UC-NRLF 


Goldstein 


SERMONS 


PREACHED  IN  BOSTON 


ON  THE  DEATH  OF 


ABRAHAM    LINCOLN 


TOGETHER    WITH  THE   FUNERAL  SERVICES  IN 

THE  EAST  ROOM  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE 

MANSION  AT  WASHINGTON. 


BOSTON: 
T    ^N 

1865. 


£,  '•' 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1865, 

BY  J.  E.  TILTON  AND  CO., 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  for  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


STEREOTYPED  Br   C.  J.   PETERS   &    SON, 
No.   13  Washington  Street. 


TRESS  os1  GEO.  C.  RAND  &  AVERT. 


CONTENTS. 


FUNERAL  SERVICE  AT  WASHINGTON. 

Page. 
I.     B  URIAL  SER  VICE  READ  BY  REV.  MR.  HALL.    7 

//.  OPENING  PR  A  YER  B  Y  BISHOP  SIMPSON.  9 
III.  SERMON  BY  REV.  D.  P.  GURLEY.  ...  16 
IV.  CLOSING  PRAYER  BY  REV.  E.  H.  GRAY.  28 


SERMONS  IN  BOSTON. 

V.    REV.  E.  N.  KIRK.        33 

PSALMS  xlvi. :  10. 
VI.     REV.  CYRUS  A.  BARTOL 61 

VII.    REV.  J.  M.  MANNING 69 

DEUTERONOMY  xxxiv. :  4,  5. 

VIII.     REV.  JOHN  E.   TODD 75 

PSALMS  xciii. :  1. 

IX.    REV.  JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE.    ...       91 
2  TIM.  i :  10. 

X.     REV.  GEORGE  II.  HEPWORTH.    ....     109 
MATTHEW  ix. :  15. 

XI.     REV.   W.  R.  NICHOLSON. 125 

XII.    REV.  WILLIAM  HAGUE 129 

SAMUEL  iii. :  38. 


773221 


4  CONTENTS. 

XIII.  EEV.  E.  B.  WEBB 145 

ISAIAH  xxi.  :  11, 12. 

XIV.  REV.  R.  H.  NEALE 163 

MATTHEW  ix. :  15. 

XV.    REV.  HENRY  W.  FOOTS 179 

XVI.     REV.  F.  D.  HUNTINGTON. 193 

XVII.     REV.  WARREN  H.  CUDWORTH.    ....     199 
DANIEL  iv.  35. 

XVIII.    REV.  CHANDLER   ROBBINS 215 

PSALMS  Ixxvii. :  19. 

XIX.    REV.  W.  S,  STUDLEY. 227 

LAMENTATIONS  v. :  15, 16, 17, 19. 

XX.    REV.  RUFUS  ELLIS 235 

LUKE  xxiv. :  5,  6. 

XXI.    REV.  SAMUEL   K.  LOTHROP 245 

2  SAMUEL  xix :  2. 

XX77.     REV.  EDWARD  E.  HALE 267 

1  CORINTHIANS  xv. :  57. 

XXIII.    REV.  A.  A.  MINER 279 

PSALMS  Ixxxix. :  18. 

XXIF.     REV.  JAMES  REED 295 

XXF.     REV.  GEORGE   PUTNAM 309 

XXVI.     REV.  GEORGE  L.  CHANEY. 325 

JOHN  xiv. :  18. 

XXVII.    REV.  A.  L.  STONE 337 

LAMENTATIONS  v. :  15, 16. 

XXVIII.    REV.  J.  D.  FULTON. 359 

DEUTERONOMY  xzxiv, :  7. 


REV,  P.  D.  GURLEY,  D.  D 

i* 


BURIAL    SERVICE. 


At  ten  minutes  past  12,  Rev.  Mr.  HALL  opened  the 
services  by  reading  from  the  Episcopal  burial  service 
for  the  dead  as  follows : 

"  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life  saith  the  Lord ;  he 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he 
live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  die. — John  xi :  25,  26. 

"  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  He  shall 
stand  at  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth  and  though  after 
my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in  my  flesh  shall 
I  see  God,  whom  I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes 
shall  behold  and  not  another. — Job  xix :  25,  26,  27. 

"  We  brought  nothing  into  this  world,  and  it  is  certain 
we  can  carry  nothing  out.  The  Lord  gave  and  the  Lord 
hath  taken  away.  Blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." — 
1  Timothy  vi :  7,  and  Job  i :  21. 

"Lord,  let  me  know  my  end  and  the  number  of  my 
days,  that  I  may  be  certified  how  long  I  have  to  live. 
Behold,  Thou  hast  made  my  days  as  it  were  but  a  span 
long,  and  mine  age  is  even  as  nothing  in  respect  of  Thee. 
And  verily  every  man  living  is  altogether  vanity  ;  for 


«    ;     SERMONS    ON   THE 

.iftan  -walitetli  tfi.a  vain  shadow,  and  disquieteth  himself 
in  vain.  He  heapeth  up  riches,  and  cannot  tell  who 
shall  gather  them.  And  now,  Lord,  what  is  my  hope  ? 
Truly  my  hope  is  ever  in  Thee ;  deliver  me  from 
all  my  offences,  and  make  me  not  a  rebuke  unto  the 
foolish.  When  Thou,  with  rebukes  dost  chasten  man 
for  sin,  Thou  makest  his  beauty  to  consume  away, 
like  as  it  were  a  moth  fretting  a  garment.  Every  man 
is,  therefore,  but  vanity.  Hear  my  prayer,  O  Lord,  and 
with  Thine  ears  consider  my  calling.  Hold  not  Thy 
peace  at  my  tears,  for  I  am  a  stranger  with  thee  and  a 
sojourner,  as  all  my  fathers  were.  O,  spare  me  a  little, 
that  I  may  recover  my  strength  before  I  go  hence  and  be 
no  more  seen.  Lord,  Thou  hast  been  our  refuge  from 
one  generation  to  another.  Before  the  mountains  were 
brought  forth,  or  even  the  earth  and  the  world  were  made, 
Thou  art  God  from  everlasting,  and  world  without  end. 
Thou  turnest  man  to  destruction  ;  again  thou  sayest,  come 
again,  ye  children  of  men,  for  a  thousand  years  in  thy 
sight  are  but  as  yesterday,  seeing  that  it  is  past  as  a 
watch  in  the  night.  As  soon  as  Thou  scatterest  them, 
they  are  even  as  sheep,  and  fade  away  suddenly  like  the 
grass.  In  the  morning  it  is  green  and  groweth  up,  but 
in  the  evening  it  is  cut  down,  dried  up,  and  withered. 
For  we  consume  away  in  Thy  displeasure,  and  are  afraid 
at  thy  wrathful  indignation.  Thou  hast  set  our  mis 
deeds  before  Thee,  and  our  secret  sins  in  the  light  of  Thy 
countenance ;  for  when  thou  art  angry  all  our  days  are 
gone.  We  bring  our  years  to  an  end,  as  it  were  a  tale 
that  is  told.  The  days  of  our  age  are  threescore  years 
and  ten,  and  though  men  be  so  strong  that  they  come  to 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  U 

fourscore  years,  yet  is  their  strength  then  but  labor  and 
sorrow,  so  soon  passeth  it  away,  and  we  are  gone.  So 
teach  us  to  number  our  days  that  we  may  apply  our 
hearts  unto  wisdom.  Glory  be  to  the  Father,and  to  the 
Son,  and  to  the  holy  Ghost ;  as  it  was  in  the  beginning, 
is  now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  without  end.  Amen." 

Then  was  read  the  lesson  from  the  15th  chapter 
of  St.  Paul  to  the  Corinthians,  beginning  with  the 
20th  verse : 

But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead,  and  become 
the  first-fruits  of  them  that  slept. 

For  since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead. 

For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  even  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be 
made  alive. 

But  every  man  in  his  own  order :  Christ  the  first- 
fruits  ;  afterward  they  that  are  Christ's  at  his  coming. 

Then  cometh  the  end,  when  he  shall  have  delivered 
up  the  kingdom  to  God,  even  the  Father ;  when  he  shall 
have  put  down  all  rule,  and  all  authority,  and  power. 

For  he  must  reign,  till  he  hath  put  all  enemies  under 
his  feet. 

The  last  enemy  that  shall  be  destroyed  is  death. 

For  he  hath  put  all  things  under  his  feet.  But  when 
he  saith,  all  things  are  put  under  him,  it  is  manifest  that 
he  is  excepted  which  did  put  all  things  under  him. 

And  when  all  things  shall  be  subdued  unto  him,  then 
shall  the  Son  also  himself  be  subject  unto  him  that  put 
all  things  under  him,  that  God  may  be  all  in  all. 


10  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Else  what  shall  they  do,  which  are  baptized  for  the 
dead,  if  the  dead  rise  not  at  all  ?  why  are  they  then 
baptized  for  the  dead  ? 

And  why  stand  we  in  jeopardy  every  hour  ? 

I  protest  by  your  rejoicing  which  I  have  in  Christ 
Jesus  our  Lord,  I  die  daily. 

If  after  the  manner  of  men  I  have  fought  with  beasts 
at  Ephesus,  what  advantageth  it  me,  if  the  dead  rise 
not  ?  let  us  eat  and  drink  ;  for  to-morrow  we  die. 

Be  not  deceived ;  evil  communications  corrupt  good 
manners. 

Awake  to  righteousness,  and  sin  not ;  for  some  have 
not  the  knowledge  of  God.  I  speak  this  to  your  shame. 

But  some  man  will  say,  How  are  the  dead  raised  up  ? 
and  with  what  body  do  they  come  ? 

Thou  fool,  that  which  thou  sowest  is  not  quickened 
except  it  die  : 

And  that  which  thou  sowest,  thou  sowest  not  that 
body  that  shall  be,  but  bare  grain ;  it  may  chance  of 
wheat,  or  of  some  other  grain : 

But  God  giveth  it  a  body  as  it  hath  pleased  him,  and 
to  every  seed  his  own  body. 

All  flesh  is  not  the  same  flesh ;  but  there  is  one  kind 
of  flesh  of  men,  another  flesh  of  beasts,  another  of 
fishes,  and  another  of  birds. 

There  are  also  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial : 
but  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the 
terrestrial  is  another. 

There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  and  another  glory  of 
the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars  ;  for  one  star 
differeth  from  another  star  in  glory. 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  11 

So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  It  is  sown  in 
corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption : 

It  is  sown  in  dishonor,  it  is  raised  in  glory  :  it  is  sown 
in  weakness,  it  is  raised  in  power  : 

It  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a  spiritual  body. 
There  is  a  natural  body,  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body. 

And  so  it  is  written,  The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a 
living  soul,  the  last  Adam  was  made  a  quickening  spirit. 

Howbeit,  that  was  not  first  which  is  spiritual,  but 
that  wrhich  is  natural ;  and  afterward  that  which  is 
spiritual. 

The  first  man  is  of  the  earth,  earthy  :  the  second  man 
is  the  Lord  from  heaven. 

As  is  the  earthy,  such  are  they  also  that  are  earthy : 
and  as  is  the  heavenly,  such  are  they  also  that  are 
heavenly. 

And  as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  the  earthy,  we 
shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly. 

Now  this  I  say,  brethren,  that  flesh  and  blood  cannot 
inherit  the  kingdom  of  God ;  neither  doth  corruption 
inherit  incorruption. 

Behold,  I  shew  you  a  mystery :  We  shall  not  all 
sleep,  but  we  shall  all  be  changed, 

In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  at  the  last 
trump  :  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound,  and  the  dead  shall 
be  raised  incorruptible,  and  we  shall  be  changed. 

For  this  corruptible  must  put  on  incorruption,  and 
this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality. 

So  when  this  corruptible  shall  have  put  on  incorrup 
tion,  and  this  mortal  shall  have  put  on  immortality,  then 
shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written, 
Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory. 


12  SERMONS  ON  THE 

O  death,  where  is  thy  sting  ?  O  grave,  where  is  thy 
victory  ? 

The  sting  of  death  is  sin ;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is 
the  law. 

But  thanks  be  to  God,  which  giveth  us  the  victory, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

Therefore,  my  beloved  brethren,  be  ye  steadfast, 
unmovable,  always  abounding  in  the  work  of  the  Lord, 
forasmuch  as  ye  know  that  your  labor  is  not  in  vain  in 
the  Lord. 


Bishop  Simpson,  of  Philadelphia,  then  offered  the 
following  opening  prayer : 

Almighty  God,  our  Heavenly  Father,  as  with  smitten 
and  suffering  hearts  we  come  into  Thy  presence,  we 
pray,  in  the  name  of  our  blessed  Redeemer,  that  Thou 
wouldst  pour  upon  us  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  that  all  our 
thoughts  and  acts  may  be  acceptable  in  Thy  sight.  We 
adore  Thee  for  all  Thy  glorious  perfections.  We  praise 
Thee  for  the  revelation  which  Thou  hast  given  us  in  Thy 
works  and  in  Thy  Word.  By  Thee  all  worlds  exist. 
All  beings  live  through  Thee.  Thou  raisest  up  king 
doms  and  empires,  and  castest  them  down.  By  Thee 
kings  reign  and  princes  decree  righteousness.  In  Thy 
hand  are  the  issues  of  life  and  death.  We  confess 
before  Thee  the  magnitude  of  our  sins  and  transgres 
sions,  both  as  individuals  and  as  a  nation.  We  implore 
Thy  mercy  for  the  sake  of  our  Redeemer.  Forgive 
us  all  our  iniquities.  If  it  please  Thee,  remove  Thy 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  13 

chastening  hand  from  us  ;  and,  though  we  be 
unworthy,  turn  away  from  us  Thine  anger,  and  let  the 
light  of  Thy  countenance  again  shine  upon  us. 

At  this  solemn  hour,  as  we  mourn  for  the  death  of 
our  President,  who  was  stricken  down  by  the  hand  of  an 
assassin,  grant  us  also  the  grace  to  bow  in  submission 
to  Thy  holy  will.  May  we  recognize  Thy  hand  high 
above  all  human  agencies,  and  Thy  power  as  controlling 
all  events,  so  that  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  Thee, 
and  that  the  remainder  of  wrath  Thou  wilt  restrain. 
Humbled  under  the  suffering  we  have  endured,  and  the 
great  afflictions  through  which  we  have  passed,  may  we 
not  be  called  upon  to  offer  other  sacrifices.  May  the 
lives  of  all  our  officers,  both  civil  and  military,  be 
guarded  by  Thee ;  and  let  no  violent  hand  fall  upon  any 
of  them.  Mourning  as  we  do,  for  the  mighty  dead  by 
whose  remains  we  stand,  we  would  yet  lift  our  hearts 
unto  Thee  in  grateful  acknowledgment  for  Thy  kindness 
in  giving  us  so  great  and  noble  a  commander. 

Thou  art  glorified  in  good  men,  and  we  praise  Thee 
that  Thou  didst  give  him  unto  us  so  pure,  so  honest,  so 
sincere,  and  so  transparent  in  character.  We  praise 
Thee  for  that  kind,  affectionate  heart,  which  always 
swelled  with  feelings  of  enlarged  benevolence.  We 
bless  Thee  for  what  Thou  didst  enable  him  to  do  ;  that 
Thou  didst  give  him  wisdom  to  select  for  his  advisers, 
and  for  his  officers,  military  and  naval,  those  men 
through  whom  our  country  has  been  carried  through 
an  unprecedented  conflict. 

We  bless   Thee  for  the   success  which   has  attended 
all  their  efforts,  and  victories  which  have  crowned  our 
2 


SERMONS  ON"  THE 

armies  ;  and  that  Thou  didst  spare  Thy  servant  until  he 
could  behold  the  dawning  of  that  glorious  morning  of 
peace  and  prosperity  which  is  about  to  shine  upon  our 
land ;  that  he  was  enabled  to  go  up  as  Thy  servant  of 
old  upon  Mount  Pisgah,  and  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
promised  land.  Though  his  lips  are  silent  and  his  arm 
is  powerless,  we  thank  Thee  that  Thou  didst  strengthen 
him  to  speak  words  that  cheer  the  hearts  of  the  suffering 
and  the  oppressed,  and  to  write  that  declaration  of  eman 
cipation  which  has  given  him  an  immortal  reward  ;  that 
though  the  hand  of  the  assassin  has  struck  him  to  the 
ground,  it  could  not  destroy  the  work  which  he  has 
done,  nor  forge  again  the  chains  which  he  has  broken. 
And  while  we  mourn  that  he  has  passed  away,  we  are 
grateful  that  his  work  was  so  fully  accomplished,  and 
that  the  acts  which  he  has  performed  will  forever  remain. 

We  implore  Thy  blessing  upon  his  bereaved  family, 
Thou  husband  of  the  widow.  Bless  her  who,  broken 
hearted  and  sorrowing,  feels  oppressed  with  unutterable 
anguish.  Cheer  the  loneliness  of  the  pathway  which 
lies  before  her,  and  grant  to  her  such  consolations  of 
Thy  spirit,  and  such  hopes,  through  the  resurrection, 
that  she  shall  feel  that  "  Earth  hath  no  sorrows  which 
Heaven  cannot  heal." 

Let  Thy  blessing  rest  upon  his  sons  ;  pour  upon 
them  the  spirit  of  wisdom  ;  be  Thou  the  guide  of  their 
youth  ;  prepare  them  for  usefulness  in  society,  for  hap 
piness  in  all  their  relations.  May  the  remembrance  of 
their  father's  counsels,  and  their  father's  noble  acts, 
ever  stimulate  them  to  glorious  deeds,  and  at  last  may 
they  be  heirs  of  everlasting  life. 


DEATH  OF  "PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  15 

Command  thy  rich  blessings  to  descend  upon  the  suc 
cessor  of  our  lamented  President.  Grant  unto  him 
wisdom,  energy,  and  firmness  for  the  responsible  duties 
to  which  he  has  been  called  ;  and  may  he,  his  cabinet, 
officers  and  generals  who  shall  lead  his  armies,  and  the 
brave  soldiers  in  the  field,  be  so  guided  by  Thy  counsels 
that  they  shall  speedily  complete  the  great  work  which 
he  had  so  successfully  carried  forward. 

Let  Thy  blessing  rest  upon  our  country.  Grant  unto 
us  all  a  fixed  and  strong  determination  never  to  cease 
our  efforts  until  our  glorious  Union  shall  be  fully 
re-established. 

Around  the  remains  of  our  loved  President  may  we 
covenant  together  by  every  possible  means  to  give  our 
selves  to  our  country's  service  until  every  vestige  of  this 
rebellion  shall  have  been  wiped  out,  and  until  slavery, 
its  cause,  shall  be  forever  eradicated. 

Preserve  us,  we  pray  Thee,  from  all  complications 
with  foreign  nations.  Give  us  hearts  to  act  justly 
toward  all  nations,  and  grant  unto  them  hearts  to  act 
justly  toward  us,  that  universal  peace  and  happiness  may 
fill  our  earth.  We  rejoice,  then,  in  this  inflicting  dis 
pensation  Thou  hast  given,  as  additional  evidence  of  the 
strength  of  our  nation.  We  bless  Thee  that  no  tumult 
has  arisen,  and  in  peace  and  harmony  our  government 
moves  onward ;  and  that  Thou  hast  shown  that  our  re 
publican  government  is  the  strongest  upon  the  face  of 
the  earth. 

In  this  solemn  presence,  may  we  feel  that  we  too  are 
immortal !  May  the  sense  of  our  responsibility  to  God 
rest  upon  us  ;  may  we  repent  of  every  sin  ;  and  may  we 


16  SERMONS   ON   THE 

consecrate  anew  unto  Thee  all  the  time  and  all  the 
talents  which  Thou  hast  given  us ;  and  may  we  so  fulfil 
our  allotted  duties  that  finally  we  may  have  a  resting- 
place  with  the  good,  and  wise,  and  the  great,  who  now 
surround  that  glorious  throne  !  Hear  us  while  we  unite 
in  praying  with  Thy  Church  in  all  lands  and  in  all  ages, 
even  as  Thou  hast  taught  us,  saying  : 

Our  Father  which  art  in  heaven;  hallowed  be  Thy 
name.  Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth 
as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread. 
And  forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  those 
who  trespass  against  us.  And  lead  us  not  into  tempta 
tion,  but  deliver  us  from  evil.  For  Thine  is  the  kingdom, 
and  the  power,  and  the  glory,  forever.  Amen  ! 


DR.   GURLEY'S   SERMON. 

As  we  stand  here  to-day,  mourners  around  this  coffin, 
and  around  the  lifeless  remains  of  our  beloved  chief 
magistrate,  we  recognize  and  we  adore  the  sovereignty 
of  God.  His  throne  is  in  the  Heavens,  and  His  king 
dom  ruleth  over  all.  He  hath  done,  and  He  hath 
permitted  to  be  done,  whatsoever  he  pleased.  Clouds 
and  darkness  are  round  about  him ;  righteousness  and 
judgment  are  the  habitation  of  his  throne.  His  way  is 
in  the  sea  and  his  path  in  the  great  waters,  and  his  foot 
steps  are  not  known.  Canst  thou  by  searching  find  out 
God  ?  Canst  thou  find  out  the  Almighty  unto  perfection  ? 
It  is  as  high  as  Heaven,  what  canst  thou  do  ?  Deeper 
than  hell,  what  canst  thou  know  ?  The  measure  thereof 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  17 

is  longer  than  the  earth,  and  broader  than  the  sea.  If 
He  cut  off  and  shut  up,  or  gather  together,  then  who 
can  hinder  him  ?  for  He  knoweth  vain  men,  He  seeth 
wickedness :  also,  will  he  not  then  consider  it  ?  We 
bow  before  His  Infinite  Majesty,  —  we  bow,  we  weep, 
we  worship. 

"  Where  reason  fails  with  all  her  powers, 
There  faith  prevails  and  love  adores." 

It  was  a  cruel,  cruel  hand,  that  dark  hand  of  the  assas 
sin,  which  smote  our  honored,  wise,  and  noble  President, 
and  filled  the  land  with  sorrow.  But  above  and  beyond 
that  hand  there  is  another,  which  we  must  see  and 
acknowledge.  It  is  the  chastening  hand  of  a  wise  and 
a  faithful  Father.  He  gives  us  this  bitter  cup,  and  the 
cup  that  our  father  has  given  us  shall  we  not  drink  it  ? 

God  of  the  just,  thou  givest  us  the  cup, 
"We  yield  to  thy  behest,  and  drink  it  up. 

Whom  the  Lord  loveth  he  chasteneth.  Oh,  how  these 
blessed  words  have  cheered  and  strengthened  and  sus 
tained  us  through  all  these  long  and  weary  years  of  civil 
strife,  while  our  friends  and  brothers  on  so  many  ensan 
guined  fields  were  falling  and  dying  for  the  cause  of 
liberty  and  union.  Let  them  cheer  and  strengthen  and 
sustain  us  to-day.  True,  this  new  sorrow  and  chastening 
has  come  in  such  an  hour  and  in  such  a  way  as  we 
thought  not,  and  it  bears  the  impress  of  a  rod  that  is  very 
heavy,  and  of  a  mystery  that  is  very  deep,  that  such  a 
life  should  be  sacrificed  at  such  a  time,  by  such  a  foul 
and  diabolical  agency ;  that  the  man  at  the  head  of  the 
2* 


18  SERMONS   ON   THE 

nation,  whom  the  people  had  learned  to  trust  with  a  con 
fiding  and  a  loving  confidence,  and  upon  whom  more  than 
upon  any  other  were  centred,  under  God,  our  best  hopes 
for  the  true  and  speedy  pacification  of  the  country,  the 
restoration  of  the  Union,  and  the  return  of  harmony 
and  love,  —  that  he  should  be  taken  from  us,  and 
taken  just  as  the  prospect  of  peace  was  brightly  opening 
upon  our  torn  and  bleeding  country,  and  just  as  he  was 
beginning  to  be  animated  and  gladdened  with  the  hope 
of  ere  long  enjoying  with  the  people  the  blessed  fruit 
and  reward  of  his  and  their  toils,  care  and  patience  and 
self-sacrificing  devotion  to  the  interests  of  liberty  and 
the  Union.  Oh,  it  is  a  mysterious  and  a  most  afflicting 
visitation.  But  it  is  our  Father  in  Heaven,  the  God  of 
our  fathers  and  our  God,  who  permits  us  to  be  so 
suddenly  and  sorely  smitten ;  and  we  know  that  His 
judgments  are  right,  and  that  in  faithfulness  He  has 
afflicted  us.  In  the  midst  of  our  rejoicings  we  needed 
this  stroke,  this  dealing,  this  discipline  and  therefore 
He  has  sent  it.  Let  us  remember  our  affliction  has  not 
come  forth  of  the  dust,  and  our  trouble  has  not  sprung 
out  of  the  ground. 

Through  and  beyond  all  second  causes,  let  us  look  and 
see  the  sovereign  permissive  agency  of  the  great  First 
Cause.  It  is  his  prerogative  to  bring  light  out  of  darkness, 
and  good  out  of  evil.  Surely  the  wrath  of  man  shall  praise 
him,  and  the  remainder  of  wrath  he  will  restrain.  In 
the  light  of  a  clearer  day,  we  may  yet  see  that  the 
wrath  which  planned  and  perpetrated  the  death  of  the 
President  was  overruled  by  Him,  whose  judgments  are 
unsearchable  and  His  ways  past  finding  out,  for  the 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  19 

highest  welfare  of  all  those  interests  which  are  so  dear 
to  the  Christian  patriot  and  philanthropist,  and  for 
which  a  loyal  people  have  made  such  an  unexampled 
sacrifice  of  treasure  and  of  blood.  Let  us  not  be  faith 
less,  but  believing. 

"  Blind  unbelief  is  prone  to  err,  and  scan  His  work  in  vain  ; 
God  is  his  own  interpreter,  and  he  will  make  it  plain." 

We  will  wait  for  his  interpretation  ;  and  we  will  wait  in 
faith,  nothing  doubting.  He  who  has  led  us  so  well, 
and  defended  and  prospered  us  so  wonderfully  during 
the  last  four  years  of  toil  and  struggle  and  sorrow, 
will  not  forsake  us  now.  He  may  chasten,  but  he  will 
not  destroy.  He  may  purify  us  more  and  more  in  the 
furnace  of  trial,  but  he  will  not  consume  us.  No,  no. 
He  has  chosen  us,  as  he  did  his  people  of  old,  in  the 
furnace  of  affliction ;  and  he  has  said  of  us,  as  he  said 
of  them,  this  people  have  I  formed  for  myself;  they 
shall  show  forth  my  praise.  Let  our  principal  anxiety 
now  be  that  this  new  sorrow  may  be  a  sanctified  sorrow  ; 
that  it  may  lead  us  to  deeper  repentance,  to  a  more 
humbling  sense  of  our  dependence  upon  God,  and  to 
the  more  unreserved  consecration  of  ourselves,  and  all 
that  we  have,  to  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice,  of  law 
and  order,  of  liberty  and  good  government,  of  pure  and 
undefiled  religion.  Then,  though  weeping  may  endure 
for  a  night,  joy  will  come  in  the  morning.  Blessed  be 
God.  Despite  of  this  great  and  sudden  and  temporary 
darkness,  the  morning  has  begun  to  dawn,  the  morning 
of  a  bright  and  glorious  day,  such  as  our  country  has 
never  seen.  That  day  will  come  and  not  tarry,  and  the 


20  SERMONS  ON  THE 

death  of  a  hundred  presidents  and  their  cabinets  can 
never,  never  prevent  it.  While  we  are  thus  hopeful, 
however,  let  us  also  be  humble.  The  occasion  calls  us 
to  prayerful  and  tearful  humiliation.  It  demands  of  us 
that  we  lie  low,  very  low,  before  Him  who  has  smitten 
us  for  our  sins.  Oh  that  all  our  rulers  and  all  our  people 
may  bow  in  the  dust  to-day  beneath  the  chastening  hand 
of  God,  and  may  their  voices  go  up  to  him  as  one  voice, 
and  their  hearts  go  up  to  him  as  one  heart,  pleading 
with  him  for  mercy,  for  grace  to  sanctify  our  great  and 
sore  bereavement,  and  for  wisdom  to  guide  us  in  this 
our  time  of  need  !  Such  a  united  cry  and  pleading  will 
not  be  in  vain.  It  will  enter  into  the  ear  and  heart  of 
Him  who  sits  upon  the  throne,  and  He  will  say  to  us, 
as  to  his  ancient  Israel,  "  In  a  little  wrath,  I  hid  my 
face  from  thee  for  a  moment,  but  with  everlasting  kind 
ness  will  I  have  mercy  upon  thee,  saith  the  Lord,  thy 
Redeemer." 

I  have  said,  that  the  people  confided  in  the  late  lament 
ed  President  with  a  full  and  a  loving  confidence.  Pro 
bably  no  man  since  the  days  of  Washington  was  ever  so 
deeply  and  firmly  imbedded  and  enshrined  in  the  very 
hearts  of  the  people  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  Nor  was  it  a 
mistaken  confidence  and  love.  He  deserved  it ;  deserved 
it  well ;  deserved  it  all.  He  merited  it  by  his  character, 
by  his  acts,  and  by  the  whole  tenor  and  tone  and  spirit  of 
his  life.  He  was  simple  and  sincere,  plain  and  honest, 
truthful  and  just,  benevolent  and  kind.  His  perceptions 
were  quick  and  clear,  his  judgments  were  calm  and 
accurate,  and  his  purposes  were  good  and  pure  beyond 
a  question.  Always  and  everywhere  he  aimed  and 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  21 

endeavored  to  le  right  and  to  do  right.  His  integrity 
was  thorough,  all-pervading,  all-controlling,  and  incor 
ruptible.  It  was  the  same  in  every  place  and  relation, 
in  the  consideration  and  control  of  matters  great  or  small, 
the  same  firm  and  steady  principle  of  power  and  beauty, 
that  shed  a  clear  and  crowning  lustre  upon  all  his  other 
excellences  of  mind  and  heart,  and  recommended  him  to 
his  fellow-citizens  as  the  man,  who,  in  a  time  of  unexam 
pled  peril,  when  the  very  life  of  the  nation  was  at  stake, 
should  be  chosen  to  occupy  in  the  country,  and  for  the 
country,  its  highest  post  of  power  and  responsibility. 
How  wisely  and  well,  how  purely  and  faithfully,  how 
firmly  and  steadily,  how  justly  and  successfully  he  did 
occupy  that  post,  and  meet  its  grave  demands,  in  circum 
stances  of  surpassing  trial  and  difficulty,  is  known  to 
you  all,  —  known  to  the  country  and  the  world ;  he 
comprehended  from  the  first  the  perils  to  which  treason 
had  exposed  the  freest  and  best  government  on  the  earth, 
— the  vast  interests  of  liberty  and  humanity  that  were  to  be 
saved  or  lost  forever  in  the  urgent  impending  conflict.  He 
rose  to  the  dignity  and  momentousness  of  the  occasion, 
saw  his  duty  as  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  and 
imperilled  people,  and  he  determined  to  do  his  duty,  and 
his  whole  duty,  seeking  the  guidance  and  leaning  upon 
'the  arm  of  Him  of  whom  it  is  written,  "  He  giveth 
power  to  the  faint,  and  to  them  that  have  no  might  He 
increaseth  the  strength."  Yes,  he  leaned  upon  his  arm. 
He  recognized  and  received  the  truth,  that  the  kingdom 
is  the  Lord's  and  He  is  the  governor  among  the  nations. 
He  remembered  that  God  is  in  history,  and  he  felt  that 
nowhere  had  his  hand  and  his  mercy  been  so  marvel- 


22  SERMONS   ON   THE 

lously  conspicuous  as  in  the  history  of  this  nation.  He 
hoped  and  he  prayed  that  that  same  hand  would  continue 
to  guide  us,  and  that  same  mercy  continue  to  abound  to 
us  in  the  time  of  our  greatest  need.  I  speak  what  I 
know,  and  testify  what  I  have  often  heard  him  say,  when 
I  affirm  that  that  guidance  and  mercy  were  the  props  on 
which  he  humbly  and  habitually  leaned;  that  they 
were  the  best  hope  he  had  for  himself,  and  for  his  coun 
try.  Hence,  when  he  was  leaving  his  home  in  Illinois, 
and  coming  to  this  city  to  take  his  seat  in  the  Executive 
Chair  of  a  disturbed  and  troubled  nation,  he  said  to  the 
old  and  tried  friends  who  gathered  tearfully  around  him, 
and  bade  him  farewell,  I  leave  you  with  this  request,  — 
pray  for  me.  They  did  pray  for  him,  and  millions  of 
others  prayed  for  him.  Nor  did  they  pray  in  vain. 
Their  prayers  were  heard,  and  the  answer  appears  in  all 
his  subsequent  history.  It  shines  forth  with  a  heavenly 
radiance  in  the  whole  course  and  tenor  of  his  administra 
tion,  from  its  commencement  to  its  close. 

God  raised  him  up  for  a  great  and  glorious  mission, 
furnished  him  for  his  work,  and  aided  him  in  its  accom 
plishment.  Nor  was  it  merely  by  strength  of  mind,  and 
honesty  of  heart,  and  purity  and  pertinacity  of  purpose, 
that  He  furnished  him.  In  addition  to  these  things,  He 
gave  him  a  calm  and  abiding  confidence  in  the  overrul 
ing  providence  of  God,  and  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
truth  and  righteousness,  through  the  power  and  the 
blessing  of  God.  This  confidence  strengthened  him  in 
all  his  hours  of  anxiety  and  toil,  and  inspired  him  with 
calm  and  cheering  hope,  when  others  were  inclining  to 
despondency  and  gloom.  Never  shall  I  forget  the  em- 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  23 

phasis  and  the  deep  emotion  with  which  he  said,  in  this 
very  room,  to  a  company  of  clergymen  and  others,  who 
called  to  pay  him  their  respects  in  the  darkest  day  of 
our  civil  conflict :  "  Gentlemen,  my  hope  of  success,  in 
this  great  and  terrible  struggle,  rests  on  that  immuta 
ble  foundation,  the  justice  and  goodness  of  God ;  and, 
when  events  are  very  threatening,  and  prospects  very 
dark,  I  still  hope,  that  in  some  way  which  man  cannot 
see,  all  will  be  well  in  the  end,  because  our  cause  is 
just,  and  God  is  on  our  side."  Such  was  his  sublime 
and  holy  faith  ;  and  it  was  an  anchor  to  his  soul,  both 
sure  and  steadfast.  It  made  him  firm  and  strong.  It 
emboldened  him  in  the  pathway  of  duty,  however 
rugged  and  perilous  it  might  be.  It  made  him  valiant 
for  the  right,  for  the  cause  of  God  and  humanity  ;  and 
it  held  him  in  steady,  patient,  and  unswerving  adher 
ence  to  a  policy  of  administration  which  he  thought, 
and  which  we  all  now  think,  both  God  and  humanity 
required  him  to  adopt.  We  admired  and  loved  him  on 
many  accounts ;  for  strong  and  various  reasons.  We 
admired  his  childlike  simplicity ;  his  freedom  from  guile 
and  deceit ;  his  stanch  and  sterling  integrity ;  his  kind 
and  forgiving  temper ;  his  industry  and  patience  ;  his 
persistent,  self-sacrificing  devotion  to  all  the  duties  of 
his  eminent  position,  from  the  least  to  the  greatest ;  his 
readiness  to  hear  and  consider  the  cause  of  the  poor  and 
humble,  the  suffering  and  the  oppressed ;  his  charity  for 
those  who  questioned  the  correctness  of  his  opinions  and 
the  wisdom  of  his  policy ;  his  wonderful  skill  in  recon 
ciling  differences  among  the  friends  of  the  Union,  lead 
ing  them  away  from  abstractions  and  inducing  them  to 


24  SERMONS  ON   THE 

work  together  and  harmoniously  for  the  common  weal ; 
his  true  and  enlarged  philanthropy,  that  knew  no  dis 
tinction  of  color  or  race,  but  regarded  all  men  as 
brethren,  and  endowed  alike  by  their  Creator  with  certain 
inalienable  rights,  amongst  which  are  life,  liberty,  and 
the  pursuit  of  happiness  ;  his  inflexible  purpose,  that 
what  freedom  had  gained  in  our  terrible  civil  strife 
should  never  be  lost,  and  that  the  end  of  the  war 
should  be  the  end  of  slavery,  and  as  a  consequence 
of  rebellion  ;  his  readiness  to  spend  and  be  spent 
for  the  attainment  of  such  a  triumph,  a  triumph,  the 
blessed  fruits  of  which  shall  be  as  wide-spreading 
as  the  earth,  and  as  enduring  as  the  sun.  All  these 
things  commanded  and  fixed  our  admiration,  and  the 
admiration  of  the  world,  and  stamped  upon  his  charac 
ter  and  life  the  unmistakable  impress  of  greatness.  But 
more  sublime  than  any  or  all  of  these,  more  holy  and 
influential,  more  beautiful  and  strong  and  sustaining, 
was  his  abiding  confidence  in  God,  and  in  the  final  tri 
umph  of  truth  and  righteousness,  through  him,  and  for 
his  sake.  This  was  his  noblest  virtue,  his  grandest 
principle ;  the  secret,  alike  of  his  strength,  his  patience, 
and  his  success.  This,  it  seems  to  me,  after  being  near 
him  steadily,  and  with  him  often,  for  more  than  four 
years,  is  the  principle  by  which,  more  than  by  any 
other,  he  being  dead  yet  speaketh.  Yes,  by  his  steady, 
enduring  confidence  in  God,  and  in  the  complete,  ulti 
mate  success  of  the  cause  of  God,  which  is  the  cause  of 
humanity,  more  than  in  any  other  way,  does  he  now 
speak  to  us,  and  to  the  nation  he  loved  and  served  so 
well.  By  this  he  speaks  to  his  successor  in  office,  and 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  25 

charges  him  to  have  faith  in  God.  By  this  he  speaks  to 
the  members  of  his  Cabinet,  the  men  with  whom  he 
counselled  so  often,  and  associated  with  so  long,  and  he 
charges  them  to  have  faith  in  God.  By  this  he  speaks 
to  all  who  occupy  positions  of  influence  and  authority 
in  these  sad  and  troublous  times,  and  he  charges  them 
all  to  have  faith  in  God.  By  this  he  speaks  to  this 
great  people,  as  they  sit  in  sackcloth  to-day,  and  weep 
for  him  with  a  bitter  wailing,  and  refuse  to  be  com 
forted,  and  he  charges  them  to  have  faith  in  God ;  and 
by  this  he  will  speak  through  the  ages,  and  to  all  rulers 
and  peoples  in  every  land,  and  his  message  to  them  will 
be,  Cling  to  liberty  and  right,  battle  for  them,  bleed  for 
them,  die  for  them  if  need  be,  and  have  confidence  in 
God.  Oh  that  the  voice  of  this  testimony  may  sink 
down  into  our  hearts  to-day,  and  every  day,  and  into  the 
heart  of  the  nation,  and  exert  its  appropriate  influence 
upon  our  feelings,  our  faith,  our  patience,  and  our  devo 
tion  to  the  cause,  now  dearer  to  us  than  ever  before, 
because  consecrated  by  the  blood  of  its  most  con 
spicuous  defender,  its  wisest  and  most  fondly  trusted 
friend  ! 

He  is  dead.  But  the  God  in  whom  he  trusted  lives, — 
and  he  can  guide  and  strengthen  his  successor  as  he 
guided  and  strengthened  him.  He  is  dead.  But  the 
memory  of  his  virtues,  of  his  wise  and  patriotic  counsels 
and  labors,  of  his  calm  and  steady  faith  in  God,  lives  as 
precious,  and  will  be  a  power  for  good  in  the  country 
quite  down  to  the  end  of  time.  He  is  dead.  But  the 
cause  he  so  ardently  loved,  so  ably,  patiently,  faithfully 
represented  and  defended,  not  for  himself  only,  not  for  us 
3 


26  SERMONS   ON   THE 

only,  but  for  all  people,  in  all  their  coming  generations 
till  time  shall  be  no  more,  —  that  cause  survives  his  fall, 
and  will  survive  it.  The  light  of  its  brightening  pros 
pects  flashes  cheeringly  to-day  athwart  the  gloom  occa 
sioned  by  his  death,  and  the  language  of  God's  united 
providences  is  telling  us,  that,  though  the  friends  of  lib 
erty  die,  liberty  itself  is  immortal.  There  is  no  assassin 
strong  enough  and  no  weapon  deadly  enough  to  quench 
its  inextinguishable  life  or  arrest  its  onward  march  to  the 
conquest  and  empire  of  the  world.  This  is  our  confidence 
and  this  is  our  consolation  as  we  weep  and  mourn  to-day: 
Though  our  beloved  President  is  slain,  our  beloved  Coun 
try  is  saved ;  and  so  we  sing  of  mercy  as  well  as  of  judg 
ment.  Tears  of  gratitude  mingle  with  those  of  sorrow. 
While  there  is  darkness,  there  is  also  the  dawning  of  a 
brighter,  happier  day  upon  our  stricken  and  weary  land. 
God  be  praised  that  our  fallen  chief  lived  long  enough  to 
see  the  day  dawn,  and  the  day  star  of  joy  and  peace  arise 
upon  the  nation.  He  saw  it,  and  he  was  glad.  Alas !  alas ! 
He  only  saw  the  dawn.  When  the  sun  has  risen  full-orbed 
and  glorious,  and  a  happy  re-united  people  are  rejoicing 
in  its  light,  it  will  shine  upon  his  grave,  but  that  grave 
will  be  a  precious  and  a  consecrated  spot.  The  friends 
of  Liberty  and  of  the  Union  will  repair  to  it  in  years 
and  ages  to  come,  to  pronounce  the  memory  of  its 
occupant  blessed,  and  gathering  from  his  very  ashes, 
and  from  the  rehearsal  of  his  deeds  and  virtues,  fresh 
incentives  to  patriotism,  they  will  there  renew  their 
vows  of  fidelity  to  their  country  and  their  God. 

And  now  I  know  not  that  I  can  more  appropriately 
conclude    this   discourse,   which   is    but   a   sincere    and 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  27 

simple  utterance  of  the  heart,  than  by  addressing  to  our 
departed  President,  with  some  slight  modification,  the 
language  which  Tacitus,  in  his  lifo  of  Agricola,  addresses 
to  his  venerable  and  departed  father-in-law.  With  you 
we  may  now  congratulate.  You  are  blessed  not  only 
because  your  life  was  a  career  of  glory ;  but  because 
you  were  released,  when,  your  country  safe,  it  was 
happiness  to  die.  We  have  lost  a  parent ;  and,  in  our 
distress,  it  is  now  an  addition  to  our  heartfelt  sorrow  that 
we  had  it  not  in  our  power  to  commune  with  you  on  the 
bed  of  languishing,  and  receive  your  last  embrace.  Your 
dying  words  would  have  been  ever  dear  to  us.  Your 
commands  we  should  have  treasured  up,  and  graved 
them  on  our  hearts.  This  sad  comfort  we  have  lost,  and 
the  wound,  for  that  reason,  pierces  deeper.  From  the 
world  of  spirits  behold  your  disconsolate  family  and 
people.  Exalt  our  minds  from  fond  regret  and  unavailing 
grief  to  the  contemplation  of  your  virtues.  Those  we 
must  not  lament.  It  were  impiety  to  sully  them  with  a 
tear.  To  cherish  their  memory,  to  embalm  them  with 
our  praises,  and  so  far  as  we  can  to  emulate  your  bright 
example,  will  be  the  truest  mark  of  our  respect,  the  best 
tribute  we  can  offer.  Your  wife  will  thus  preserve  the 
memory  of  the  best  of  husbands ;  and  thus  your  children 
will  prove  their  filial  piety.  By  dwelling  constantly  on 
your  words  and  actions,  they  will  have  an  illustrious 
character  before  their  eyes  ;  and,  not  content  with  the 
bare  image  of  your  mortal  frame,  they  will  have  what  is 
more  valuable,  —  the  form  and  features  of  your  mind. 
Busts  and  statues,  like  their  originals,  are  frail  and 
perishable.  The  soul  is  formed  of  finer  elements,  and 


28  SERMONS   ON   THE 

its  inward  form  is  not  to  be  expressed  by  the  hand  of 
an  artist.  With  unconscious  matter  our  manners  and 
our  morals  may,  in  some  degree,  trace  the  resemblance. 
All  of  you  that  gained  our  love  and  raised  our  admi 
ration  still  subsist,  and  will  ever  subsist,  preserved  in 
the  minds  of  men,  the  register  of  ages  and  the  records 
of  fame.  Others,  who  have  figured  on  the  stage  of  life, 
and  were  the  worthies  of  a  former  day,  will  sink  for  want 
of  a  faithful  historian  into  the  common  lot  of  oblivion, 
inglorious  and  unremembered.  But  you,  our  lamented 
friend  and  head,  delineated  with  truth,  and  fairly  con 
signed  to  posterity,  will  survive  yourself,  and  triumph 
over  the  injuries  of  time. 

PRAYER. 

The  Rev.  E.  H.  Gray,  D.  D.,  of  the  E  St.  Baptist 
Church,  closed  the  solemn  services  with  prayer,  as 
follows  : 

God  of  the  bereaved,  comfort  and  sustain  this  mourn 
ing  family.  Bless  the  new  Chief  Magistrate.  Let  the 
mantle  of  his  predecessor  fall  upon  him.  Bless  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  his  family.  O  God,  if  possible, 
according  to  Thy  will,  spare  their  lives  that  they  may 
render  still  important  service  to  the  country.  Bless  all 
the  members  of  the  Cabinet.  Endow  them  with  wisdom 
from  above.  Bless  the  commanders  in  our  Army  and 
Navy,  and  all  the  brave  defenders  of  the  country.  Give 
them  continued  success.  Bless  the  Embassadors  from 
foreign  courts,  and  give  us  peace  with  the  nations  of  the 
earth.  O  God,  let  treason,  that  has  deluged  our  land 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  29 

with  blood,  and  desolated  our  country,  and  bereaved  our 
homes,  and  filled  them  with  widows  and  orphans,  which 
has  at  length  culminated  in  the  assassination  of  the 
nation's  chosen  ruler,  —  God  of  justice,  and  Avenger  of 
the  nation's  wrong,  let  the  work  of  treason  cease,  and  let 
the  guilty  perpetrators  of  this  horrible  crime  be  arrested, 
and  brought  to  justice  !  O  hear  the  cry  and  the  prayer 
and  the  wail  rising  from  the  nation's  smitten  and  crushed 
heart,  and  deliver  us  from  the  power  of  our  enemy,  and 
send  speedy  peace  into  all  our  borders.  Through  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  Amen. 


REV.   E.    N.    KIRK. 


PSALMS  XLVI.    10. 


BE    STILL,    AND   KNOW   THAT  I  AM   GOD. 


ON  Sunday,  the  2d  instant,  our  army  was  exultingly 
chasing  the  main  army  of  the  rebels  from  Richmond. 
On  Sunday,  the  9th,  the  Commander-in-chief  of  the  rebel 
lious  forces  capitulated  to  General  Grant.  On  Sunday, 
the  16th,  the  voice  of  song  has  died  in  our  streets.  The 
triumphant  banner  of  the  Republic  wears  the  weeds  of 
widowhood.  A  word  can  start  the  tear  in  every  eye. 
Arrangements  for  rejoicing  are  suspended.  A  nation  is 
making  preparations  for  a  funeral ;  the  greatest  funeral 
but  one  it  ever  attended ;  yes,  the  greatest :  for,  the 
people  never  buried  such  a  President  at  such  a  time,  —  a 
murdered  President. 

Which  way  shall  we  look  ?  what  shall  we  do  ?  What 
becomes  a  people  so  afflicted,  —  so  groat  a  nation  under 
so  great  a  calamity  ?  If  we  should  catch  and  execute  a 
thousand  vile  assassins,  or  their  viler  employers,  would 
it  bring  back  our  lost?  would  it  place  our  practised 
pilot  at  the  helm  again  ?  Where  are  we  ?  We  had 

(33) 


34  SERMONS    ON   THE 

fondly  hoped  the  experience  of  four  such  years  as  we 
have  passed  would  give  us  guaranty  for  the  four  years  to 
come. 

But  our  hopes  are  blighted,  our  plans  are  frustrated 
We  are  stunned  by  the  suddenness  of  the  blow;  con 
founded  by  the  awful  wickedness  of  the  deed.  Murder 
is  abroad ;  murder,  that  seeks  the  highest  mark ;  that 
dashes  down  one  of  the  noblest  of  our  race  ;  that  blots 
out  the  brightest  star  in  our  heavens ;  that  strikes  at  the 
wisest,  kindest,  gentlest  of  us  all ;  that  strikes  at  the  life 
of  the  nation  in  the  man  to  whom  the  nation  has 
intrusted  that  life. 

We  are  sad,  —  we  are  sick  at  heart.  We  feel  as  if 
our  globe  had  lost  its  course,  and  were  drifting  down 
toward  the  Botany  Bay  of  the  Universe.  The  reign  of 
Justice,  of  Law,  of  Order,  seems  to  be  past. 

We  seem  to  be  struggling  like  drowning  men,  —  the 
black,  chill  waters  are  blinding  our  eyes,  stiffening  our 
limbs,  stifling  our  breath. 

What  shall  we  do  ?  Shall  we  fill  the  air  with  our 
clamors  ?  Shall  we  put  forth  our  strength  in  some  mighty 
deeds  of  vengeance  ? 

What  is  the  work  and  duty  of  the  hour,  —  of  this 
holy  Sabbath  ? 

Thanks  be  to  God !  a  voice  sounds  from  behind  the 
black  cloud ;  a  voice  from  the  upper  throne  ;  a  voice 
from  the  world  where  no  assassin  lifts  his  hand ;  where 
treason  and  murder  never  are  known.  "  Be  still,  and 
know  that  I  am  God."  That  is  just  what  our  oppressed, 
aching  hearts  rejoice  to  hear.  It  is,  in  the  Psalm,  as 
really  addressed  to  our  enemies  in  their  vain  exultations, 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  35 

as  to  us  in  our  sorrow.     But  we  need  now  to  hear  it  for 
ourselves. 

This,  fellow-citizens,  is  the  great  lesson  of  the  day  in 
which  we  live  ;  of  the  horrid  tragedy  that  makes  a 
nation  mourn ;  of  the  whole  bloody  plot  of  which  this 
is  the  culmination.  What  is  the  lesson  ? 

I.  Suppress  or  modify  all  natural  impulses  by  the 
controlling  power  of  religious  feeling. 

1.  Distress  must  not  be  allowed  complete  control. — 
Nature  quivers  in  agony  under  such  a  blow.  Who  is 
this  thus  brutally  murdered?  The  man  who  had  won 
our  love  and  gratitude  beyond  any  of  the  living.  Around 
him,  the  tenderest  cords  of  our  hearts  were  bound.  We 
had  placed  in  his  hands  the  most  sacred  of  earthly  trusts. 
He  had  led  us  so  wisely,  so  firmly,  so  kindly,  through 
such  a  wilderness,  and  brought  us  out  as  God's  minister 
into  so  large  a  place  and  so  great  a  deliverance.  We 
had  seen  in  him.  so  much  of  magnanimity,  of  sound 
judgment,  of  gentle  kindness,  of  robust  manliness,  of 
tender  sympathy,  of  lofty  principle,  we  could  not  but 
love  him,  strongly,  tenderly.  We  have  slept  securely, 
we  have  dismissed  anxiety  arid  fear,  because  our  father 
was  at  the  helm.  But  he  is  gone,  —  dead  ;  murdered ; 
basely  assassinated ;  with  no  last  words,  no  time  to  tell 
us  where  his  hope  was  anchored,  and  whither  he  was 
going. 

Our  hearts  are  weary  with  the  dull  pain  of  repeating 
to  ourselves  —  he  is  gone,  gone  from  us  forever. 

Hark,  suffering  hearts !  a  voice  from  the  upper  world, — 


36  SERMONS   ON   THE 

"  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  If  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  dead,  I  live.  If  you  loved  him,  love  me,  and 
trust  him  in  my  hands.  Mourn  for  yourselves,  but 
rejoice  for  him.  His  work  was  finished,  nobly  finished. 
And  I  have  removed  him  from  the  turmoil  and  confusion 
of  earth  to  the  peace  and  rest  of  heaven." 

2.  We  are  liable  to  indulge  in  murmur  ings.  Why 
•should  such  wickedness  be  permitted  to  break  in  upon 
the  order  of  society  ?  Why  should  a  wretch  like  the 
leader  of  this  rebellion  be  endowed  with  such  executive 
power  and  the  ability  to  employ,  directly  or  indirectly, 
the  black-hearted  assassin  to  invade  so  noble  a  life,  and 
rob  a  nation  of  its  polar  star  ?  "  Be  still,  and  know 
that  I  am  God.  Suppress  all  murmurs.  Suffer, 
weep,  but  do  not  murmur.  Clouds  and  darkness  are 
round  about  him,  but  justice  and  judgment  are  the 
pillars  of  his  throne.  My  thoughts  are  not  your 
thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways  my  ways.  For,  as  the 
heavens  are  higher  than  the  earth,  so  are  my  ways 
higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  your 
thoughts."  Wisdom,  rectitude,  power,  is  the  trinity 
of  attributes  on  that  eternal  throne  which  presides  over 
all  human  affairs.  We  not  only  should  not  complain  of 
the  divine  government,  we  should  cheerfully  acquiesce 
in  its  decrees,  and  in  its  permissions  ;  for  it  gives  the 
Devil  the  length  of  his  chain,  and  makes  him,  in  doing 
his  own  work,  accomplish  the  purposes  that  infinite 
wisdom  and  love  had  formed. 

You  remember  that  Job  anticipated  the  very  features 
of  the  divine  government  to  perplex  himself,  that  now 
perplex  us.  And  you  remember  God's  method  of  reply. 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  37 

It  was  essentially  just  this,  —  Be  still,  and  know  that  I 
am  God.  "  Who  is  this  that  darkeneth  counsel  bywords 
without  knowledge  ?  Gird  up  now  thy  loins  like  a  man  ; 
for  I  will  demand  of  thee,  and  answer  thou  me.  Where 
wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth  ? 
Declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding."  If  God  walks  on 
the  waves  of  the  sea,  only  faith  can  follow  him  there. 
Murmuring  unbelief  must  remain  on  the  solid  shore,  and 
lose  sight  of  his  footsteps.  Faith  alone  can  walk  on 
waves,  and  sing  amid  the  tempest,  "  In  God  is  my 
salvation." 

Look,  for  instance,  at  this  fact.  He  informs  us  in  his 
word  that  he  chastens  us  for  our  good,  though  we  cannot 
always  see  how  the  end  is  secured.  Faith  believes  his 
statements  and  assurances.  Sometimes  it  is  obvious  that 
his  chastisements  are  directed  expressly  to  removing 
that  master-passion,  the  pride  of  our  hearts. 

If  you  are  conversant  with  the  history  of  Israel,  you 
will  have  discovered  that  a  very  prominent  aim  of  the 
Divine  Providence  is,  to  abase  the  pride  of  man.  Man 
has  an  utterly  false  standard,  which  teaches  him  to 
admire  most  of  the  forms  of  pride  in  others,  and  all  in 
himself.  Just  study  that  history  with  this  clew  in  your 
hand ;  God's  providence  is  rebuking  the  pride  of  men's 
hearts.  That  is  what  he  is  doing  to-day  among  us.  We 
had  doubted  Mr.  Lincoln's  ability  at  first.  But  now  we 
have  proved  it,  and  trusted  him.  We  placed  him  the 
second  time  at  the  head  of  our  affairs,  with  the  most 
unreserved  confidence,  and  a  fulness  of  joy  and  thankful 
ness  to  God.  We  felt  secure  when  the  decision  was 
announced  that  he  was  ro-elected.  We  were  sure  of  four 
4 


38  SERMONS   ON   THE 

years  of  wise  administration,  of  integrity  at  the  core  of 
the  government.  But  there  was  one  thing  we  did  not 
make  sufficiently  prominent ;  the  uncertainty  of  human 
life.  We  forgot  every  morning  when  we  arose  that 
Abraham  Lincoln's  breath  was  in  his  nostrils.  We  forgot 
that  his  own  clemency  was  harboring  the  villains  that 
were  plotting  his  destruction,  But  this  was  all  virtually 
written  in  God's  word ;  and  we  should  have  retained  an 
humbler  spirit  had  we  kept  that  word  in  more  vivid 
remembrance.  It  bade  us  not  to  put  our  trust  in  an  arm 
of  flesh,  because,  however  strong  to-day,  to-morrow  it 
may  be  crumbling  back  to  dust.  It  bade  us  not  to  put 
our  trust  in  man,  for  he  is  "  crushed  before  the  moth." 
A  pistol-ball  closes  his  history,  annihilates  his  strength, 
turns  him  to  dust.  We  were  bidden  not  to  put  our  trust 
in  princes,  for  their  breath  is  in  their  nostrils.  Abraham 
was  a  prince,  and  we  were  proud  of  him,  —  so  proud 
that  we  hid  God  behind  him.  And  now  we  hear  a  voice 
in  providence,  echoing  the  voice  in  Scripture,  Be  still, 
proud  heart,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  Boast  no  more 
of  thy  strength,  of  thy  generals,  of  thy  brave  defenders, 
of  thy  magnanimous  leader ;  but  "  he  that  boasteth, 
let  him  boast  in  the  Lord."  This  terrible  event  pro- 
jclaims,  Man  is  frail,  God  is  eternal.  There  is  another 
natural  feeling  now  called  into  active  exercise,  but 
which  we  must  attemper  by  the  power  of  a  higher 
religious  sentiment. 

3.  Revenge  is  in  man  a  perverted  instinct,  but  as 
really  an  instinct  as  the  love  of  life.  It  was  placed  in 
man  as  the  sting  was  given  to  the  bee,  to  resist  aggres 
sion  from  superior  force.  But  it  has  now  become  so 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  39 

mingled  with  our  selfishness,  and  so  perverted  we  cannot 
properly  exercise  it  at  all  in  personal  matters,  and  scarcely 
in  public  affairs.  But  it  is  impossible  to  look  on  a 
dastardly  oppressor  or  an  act  of  cruelty,  on  any  wrong 
to  another,  without  feeling  an  intense  desire  to  make  the 
wrongdoer  suffer. 

How  intensely  this  feeling  is  working  to-day  in  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  outraged  country  !  But  to 
that  feeling  to-day  a  voice  from  heaven  speaks,  —  "Be 
still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  Vengeance  belongeth 
to  me,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord.'*  We  have  a  duty 
to  perform  ;  a  solemn  duty,  a  stern  duty.  We  are  deal 
ing  with  men  who  wear  much  of  the  image  of  their 
father,  who  was  a  liar,  and  a  traitor,  and  a  rebel,  and  a 
secessionist,  and  a  murderer,  from  the  beginning.  The 
magistrate  must  deal  with  them  by  the  stern  decrees  of 
law  and  justice,  the  soldier  by  the  sterner  decrees  of 
military  usage  ;  but  we,  as  men,  as  citizens,  have  no 
personal  or  party  revenge  to  gratify.  All  we  have  to  do 
in  this  matter  is  this  ;  that  as  we  are  citizens  of  a  re 
public,  and  the  magistrate  must  be  guided  by  two  codes, 
the  statutes,  and  the  public  sentiment  that  sustains  or 
modifies  them,  we  must  form  a  correct  public  sentiment, 
which  is  with  us  the  backbone  of  law.  Let  traitors 
carry  personal  revenge  into  their  treatment  of  us.  We 
must  let  our  revenge  hear  that  voice,  —  Be  still,  and 
know  that  I  am  God. 

Another  sentiment  is  outraged  by  recent  events. 

4.  Justice.  The  outbreak  was  a  high-handed  act  of 
injustice.  The  robbery  committed  on  the  government, 
the  robbery  not  only  of  forts,  and  ships,  and  arms,  but 


40  SERMONS   ON   THE 

of  the  territory  purchased  by  our  common  treasury,  and 
of  the  men  the  government  had  trained  to  the  art  of 
war  at  its  own  expense ;  the  enlistment  of  the  selfish 
ness  of  foreign  nations  against  us  ;  the  treatment  of  our 
brave  soldiers,  when  made  prisoners  of  war  ;  the  treat 
ment  of  men  who  retained  among  them  loyalty  and 
allegiance  to  the  government  that  had  always  blessed 
them,  —  all  arouse  the"  sense  of  justice  more  profoundly 
in  this  nation,  than  any  events  of  our  history.  Yes,  if 
there  has  been  found  in  all  that  horrid  region  where 
rebellion  has  scorched  the  very  air  men  breathe,  and 
withered  all  the  finer  sentiments  of  the  human  soul,  and 
turned  the  very  fountains  of  religious  life  into  poisonous 
springs;  there,  if  an  Abdiel  has  been  found,  "faithful 
among  the  faithless,  among  innumerable  false,  unmoved, 
unshaken,  unseduced,  unterrified,"  that  one  has  been 
marked  out  for  scorn  and  cruelty,  for  rapine  and  for 
murder,  even  though  the  reverend  crown  of  age  was  on 
his  brow. 

A  thousand  times  in  this  war  has  the  sentiment  of 
justice  within  us  called  for  fire  from  heaven  to  fall  upon 
the  monsters.  To-day  it  calls  for  the  extermination  of 
a  miscreant  race,  that  prove  themselves  unfit  to  breathe 
the  air  of  heaven.  But  even  that  sentiment  must  be 
restrained ;  for  we  hear  another  voice.  It  proclaims  to 
us,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  I  will  judge 
nations,  communities,  individuals,  bringing  them  to  my 
bar,  to  make  every  man  answer  for  the  deeds  done  in 
the  body.  Ask  no  more,  wish  for  no  more  than  that. 
When  the  time  comes  for  your  tribunals  in  my  name  to 
try  each  man  by  the  laws  of  his  country,  then  stand  by 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  41 

your  judiciary  in  its  righteous  decisions,  and  let  no 
mawkish  sentiment  check  the  execution  of  them." 

Another  sentiment  is  now  called  into  action. 

5.  Fear.  A  new  pilot  takes  the  helm.  Mysteriously, 
he  did  not  command  our  respect  on  the  solemn  day  in 
which  the  nation  put  the  crown  upon  his  brow,  and  he 
took  the  solemn  oath  of  office.  He  has  repented  :  this 
is  all  we  ask  of  him.  Everything  else  in  his  history 
inspires  hope,  respect,  and  gratitude.  But  still,  it  is  not 
the  hand  that  held  the  rudder-wheel  on  those  tempestu 
ous  nights  in  which  we  were  running  through  those 
narrow  channels  where  ruin  lay  on  either  side.  Fear 
naturally  arises  in  such  circumstances.  It  would  come 
up  if  you  were  in  a  steamship  at  sea,  among  icebergs, 
with  a  captain  who  had  sailed  only  river-craft  until  now. 

And  we  have  another  source  of  fear.  The  man  who 
has  held  the  powers  of  Europe  at  bay  may  also  be 
removed.  A  new  man  there  would  naturally  awaken 
solicitude. 

And  then,  again  :  how  do  we  know  what  new  phase 
this  assassination  may  put  upon  a  yet  unfinished  war  ? 
what  new  demonstrations  of  sympathy  with  treason  may 
spring  up  in  the  loyal  States  ?  But  when  these  fears 
start  up,  we  hear  a  voice  saying  to  them,  —  "  Be  still, 
and  know  that  I  am  God.  I  kill,  and  I  make  alive.  Of 
whom  hast  thou  been  afraid,  and  hast  not  remembered 
me  ?  Say  to  them  that  are  of  a  fearful  heart,  Be  strong, 
fear  not.  Behold,  your  God  will  come  with  vengeance  ; 
he  will  come  and  save  you."  "  Fear  not,  thou  worm 
Jacob,  and  ye  men  of  Israel ;  I  will  help  thee,  saith  the 
Lord  thy  Redeemer,  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel."  His 
4* 


42  SERMONS   ON   THE 

aim  is  to  produce  in  you  that  confidence  which  shall 
say  :  "  God  is  my  rock,  my  buckler.  In  God  have  I 
put  my  trust.  I  will  not  fear  what  man  can  do  unto 
me.  God  is  our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help 
in  trouble.  Therefore  will  we  not  fear  though  the  earth 
be  removed,  and  though  the  mountains  be  carried  into 
the  midst  of  the  sea." 

"  Be  still,  and  kno"w  that  I  am  God."  Do  nothing 
rashly,  say  nothing  rashly.  Wait  until  you  see  the 
pillar  of  cloud  go  before  you ;  then  move.  Be  still. 
Quiet  the  agitated  sea  of  your  heart.  Feeling  was  not 
designed  to  hold  the  helm,  but  simply  to  fill  the  sails. 
When  trouble  comes,  be  still ;  so  still  that  you  can  hear 
every  syllable  God  is  whispering.  For,  you  remember, 
that  when  the  prophet  stood  upon  the  mount  before  the 
Lord,  and  the  Lord  passed  by,  there  was  "  a  great  and 
strong  wind"  that  "rent  the  mountains,  and  broke  in 
pieces  the  rocks  before  the  Lord;  but  the  Lord  was  not 
in  the  wind ;  and  after  the  wind,  an  earthquake  ;  but 
the  Lord  was  not  in  the  earthquake  ;  and  after  the  earth 
quake,  a  fire ;  but  the  Lord  was  not  in  the  fire ;  and 
after  the  fire,  a  still  small  voice."  There  God  was.  The 
wind  is  raging  and  'howling  around  us  now,  the  earth 
quake  shakes  the  solid  globe  ;  nay,  our  very  hearts.  The 
fire  is  raging.  But  if  we  listen  only  to  them,  we  shall 
not  hear  the  Lord.  He  is  not  in  them.  We  must  be 
still ;  for  he  comes  in  the  still  small  voice, *in  a  whisper 
within  that  soul  which  waits,  above  all  things,  to  hear 
him  speak. 

Now  when  we  are  thus  tranquillized,  what  does  the 
Lord  say  to  us  ?  He  says  :  "I  am  God." 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  43 

II.  His  existence,  attributes,  providence,  grace,  and 
glory  are  what  he  would  have  us  to  know  and  permanently 
recognize.  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God." 

1.  His  personal  existence  he  would  have  us  know. 
Just  bring  this  test  home  to  yourself.     Imagine  one  of 
your  neighbors  to  deny  that  you  had  a  personal  exist 
ence,  to  try  to  persuade  others  that  you  had  not,  to  treat 
you  as  if  you  had  not.     Nay,  let"  him  affirm  that  you 
lack  any  one  attribute  of  a  rational  being,  —  memory, 
judgment,  conscience,  affection,  —  how  deeply  he  injures 
and  offends  you.     And  if  he  be  your  own  beloved  child, 
nurtured  and  cherished  by  you,  how  painful  his  treat 
ment  and  estimate  of  you  become !     Judge  from  that 
how    God     regards     pantheism,    polytheism,     atheism, 
theoretic    or   practical.       This    nation   has    manifested 
atheism  very  extensively.     The  Lord  says  —  do  so  no 
more.     Deny  not,  forget  not  my  person,  my  attributes. 
Be  not  blind,  amid  the  works  of  my  hands,  to  my  glory. 
Be  not  deaf  when  I  speak  to  you  in  my  word.     Treat 
me  as  having  a  heart,  an  intelligence,  a  will,  of  which 
your  own  is  an  imitation.     Come  as  children,  and  speak 
to  me  daily. 

Oh !  will  this  nation  be  still  enough  now  to  hear  the 
Lord  God  Almighty  assert  his  own  existence,  and 
declare  that  excellence  which  makes  the  command  to 
love  him  supremely,  infinitely  reasonable  ? 

2.  His  providence  he  would  have  us  know.     It  is  a 
providence  of  care  :  "  upholding  all  things  by  the  word 
of  his  power."     States  and  families,  like  the  individuals 
that  compose  them,  "  live   and  move,  and  have  their 
being"  in  Him.     It  is  a  providence  of  forethought  and 


44  SERMONS   ON   THE 

purpose,  directing  all  events  to  one  glorious  issue,  from 
the  fall  of  a  sparrow,  or  the  shooting  of  an  assassin's 
pistol,  to  the  overthrow  of  an  empire,  —  making  the 
Avrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,  and  restraining  the 
remainder.  Look  at  the  shortsighted  wickedness  of 
Joseph's  brethren  in  sending  him  into  what  they  sup 
posed  would  be  a  lifelong  bondage.  Look  at  Pharaoh's 
oppression,  aiming  at  the  extermination  of  the  sons  of 
Jacob,  resulting  in  their  becoming  the  medium  of  salva 
tion  to  the  world.  Look  at  these  conspirators.  They 
have  now  sealed  the  verdict  of  the  world ;  the  Confed 
eracy  is  a  conspiracy  of  assassins.  It  began  with 
attempted  assassination  of  the  chief  citizen,  the  repre 
sentative  man  of  the  nation.  It  ended  in  securing  his 
murder.  They  have  murdered  their  strongest  friend, 
and  broken  down  the  last  bulwark  that  kept  the  popular 
will  from  being  executed  on  them.  A  dark  destiny  is 
now  before  them.  And  woe  to  the  man  that  now  comes 
between  them  and  the  preparing  blow !  They  have 
united  the  loyal  citizens  more  completely  in  that  pur 
pose  which  will  leave  in  some  places  no  vestige  of  them 
but  the  desolation  their  wickedness  has  wrought.  They 
have  now  made  the  issue.  Die  they,  or  the  nation 
must. 

Is  it  not  wonderful  how  God  secures  his  ends  by  the 
aims  and  endeavors  of  those  who  are  attempting  to 
thwart  his  purposes  !  See  Him,  fellow  citizens  ;  recog 
nize  his  purposes  concerning  us,  and  his  employment  of 
his  and  our  enemies  to  execute  them.  His  time  has 
come  to  bring  Israel  out  of  bondage,  and  Pharaoh  must 
do  it.  His  time  has  come  to  release  our  African 


DEATH    OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  45 

•brethren,  but  the  masters  must  do  it.  His  providence 
is  one  of  moral  judgment.  He  does  not  make  up  the 
full  issue  for  any  individual  until  death  occurs.  But 
communities  He  judges  here.  He  declares  by  his  servant 
Malachi :  "  Then  shall  ye  return,  and  discern  between 
the  righteous  and  the  wicked;  between  him  that  serveth 
God,  and  him  that  serveth  him  not.  For,  behold,  the 
day  cometh  that  shall  burn  as  an  oven  ;  and  all  the  proud,  t 
yea,  and  all  that  do  wickedly,  shall  be  as  stubble." 

What  a  development  have  the  slaveholders  made  of 
their  character  !  Some  thought  it  severe,  some  untimely, 
for  a  senator  to  utter  that  sentence  of  judgment  on  them, 
pronouncing  slavery  barbarous.  But  the  burning  day  of 
judgment  has  now  come,  and  they  are  witnesses  on  the 
stand  to  the  truth  of  the  indictment,  —  arrogance,  trea 
sons,  perjury,  breach  of  trust,  brow-beating,  cruelty, 
assassination ;  these  are  the  epithets  history  will  apply 
to  their  conduct.  The  great  white  throne  is  set,  and 
black  appears  black  before  it.  Davis  and  Stevens,  Lee, 
Toombs  and  Floyd,  Mason  and  Breckenridge,  every 
naval  and  military  officer  that  left  our  service,  every 
member  of  their  Congress,  every  gaol-keeper  that 
guarded  our  soldiers  in  their  prisons,  every  act  of  vio 
lence  to  our  negro  soldiers  in  their  hands,  every  loyal 
man  of  the  South  that  they  robbed  and  murdered,  the 
corpse  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  mangled  frame  of  Wil 
liam  Seward  are  their  witnesses.  Truly  there  is  a  Ne 
mesis.  They  have  gone  like  Judas  to  their  own  place  in 
history. 

To  know  God  in  his  providence  we  must  become 
familiar  with  his  treatment  of  the  Jews.  The  Old  Tes- 


46  SERMONS    ON   THE 

tament  must  enter  into  our  education.  He  made  his 
providence  more  marked  and  distinct  with  them  than 
with  any  other  people.  He  blessed  them  when  they 
recognized  his  presence,  and  treated  Him  as  their  bene 
factor  and  ruler.  But  see  what  terrible  displays  of  his 
displeasure  followed  their  disobedience.  Their  various 
captivities,  of  a  duration  of  from  five  years  to  seventy, 
and  their  final  dispersion  show  Him  to  be  a  holy  God, 
holding  nations  and  communities  responsible  to  Him 
under  terrible  penalties. 

3.  His  grace  is  the  other  form  of  manifestation  He  has 
employed.  We  must  know  Him  as  holy,  requiring  an 
expression  of  the  evil  of  sin  as  great  as  can  be  made 
through  the  cross,  in  extending"  mercy  to  sinners.  We 
must  know  Him  as  merciful,  ready  to  be  reconciled  to 
us  in  Christ ;  as  ready  to  make  a  covenant  or  compact 
of  friendship  with  us,  a  covenant  containing  the  richest 
promises  of  which  the  mind  of  man  can  conceive ;  as  a 
hearer  and  answerer  of  prayer. 

And  this  is  the  end  at  which  He  principally  aims. 
All  the  real  value  of  nations  recognizing  Him  is,  that  it 
implies  the  personal  knowledge  of  Him  by  individuals. 
And  He  counts  no  knowledge  of  Him  satisfactory  and 
complete,  except  that  which  leads  us  individually  to 
repent  of  sin,  and  believe  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and 
follow  Him  in  the  regeneration.  Nations  perish ;  indi 
viduals  live  forever.  Hence  God  attaches  a  supreme 
importance  to  the  personal  faith  of  each  individual.  So 
it  is  said :  "  God  so  loved  the  world  that  he  gave  His 
only  begotten  son  that  ivJiosoeucr  believeth  in  Him 
might  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  As  many  as 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  47 

received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  power  to  become  the  sons 
of  God,  even  to  them  that  believed  on  his  name." 

This  is,  then,  the  great  issue  to  which  the  events  of 
providence  are  pointing.  The  rebellion,  this  series  of 
victories  filling  the  nation  with  joy  and  thankfulness, 
this  horrible  crime  filling  the  nation  with  grief  and  dis 
may,  are  all  revelations  of  God.  His  language  in  the 
events  which  cheer  and  gladden  you  is,  "  I  beseech 
you  by  the  mercies  of  God  that  you  present"  yourself 
*'  a  living  sacrifice,  holy  and  acceptable  unto  God,' 
The  language  of  an  event  which  arouses  the  turbulent 
emotions  of  the  heart,  exciting  grief  or  fear  or  anger, 
is,  —  Be  still:  hold  that  feeling  in  check,  and  observe 
me.  I  have  come  forth  from  my  hiding  place,  to  show 
you  I  am  God. 

Fellow-Christians,  we  never  occupied  such  a  vantage- 
ground  as  now,  for  bringing  a  revolted  race  to  its  alle 
giance  to  God.  Our  neighbors  are  beginning  to  see  his 
presence,  to  recognize  his  will  and  power  in  passing 
events  For  his  sake,  for  their  sakes,  let  us  help  them 
onward  in  this  direction.  Filled  with  adoration,  sub 
mission,  confidence,  and  love  to  Him,  let  us  speak  of  Him 
in  the  convincing  and  persuasive  words  the  quickened 
heart  can  always  supply.  Oh,  may  this  nation  to-day 
hear  that  voice  as  distinctly  as  it  was  heard  from  Sinai  ! 
Fellow-citizens,  make  this  a  religious  clay,  a  day  of 
thought,  of  such  deep  reflection  as  becomes  you  as 
rational  beings  brought  into  a  wilderness  of  rugged 
rocks  and  frowning  cliffs,  of  desolation  and  death, 
where  you  can,  undiverted,  hear  the  voice  of  God.  Be 
still. 


REV.    CYRUS  A.    BARTOL 


ADDRESS. 


I  AM  unable  to  give,  and  you  perhaps  indisposed  to 
receive  any  regular  preaching  to-day.  If  I  can  but  tell 
you  what  is  in  the  air ;  if  I  can  voice  your  feeling  and 
my  own,  still  more  that  spirit  of  God  which  is  ready  to 
be  voiced  by  human  lips,  the  real  end  of  our  meeting  will, 
however  informally,  be  reached.  I  lay  aside  therefore 
my  written  discourse.  Though  it  be  ecclesiastically  a 
festival  this  morning,  no  Romish  or  other  rubric  has  a 
right  to  prescribe  our  theme.  I  take  no  text  save  from 
the  Bible  of  providence,  the  great  book  of  events,  God's 
finger  is  still  writing  in  burning  words  every  hour.  I 
accept  his  subject,  and  defer  my  own. 

I  need  not  even  tell  the  youngest  of  you  what  has 
occurred.  How  all  too  suddenly  it  was  known  !  How 
on  the  wires  it  flashed,  how  in  the  atmosphere  that  over 
hangs,  and  in  every  wind  that  sweeps  across  our  borders, 
it  brooded  and  was  borne  !  The  craped  and  drooping 
flag,  the  slow-sounding  bell,  the  minute-gun  told  it ; 
and  had  the  ocean-telegraph,  yet  to  succeed,  only 
served,  the  brain  and  heart  of  the  world  would  be  trem- 

(51) 


52  SERMONS   ON   THE 

bling  with  one  sympathy.  California,  from  our  farthest 
bounds,  is  with  us  in  the  same  sensation  to-day. 

I  shrink  from  naming  the  deed  by  which  we  are 
so  stirred.  An  actor  in  a  theatre  performs  a  part,  in  a 
scene  of  real  life,  which  extinguishes  all  the  interest  of 
the  mimic  stage.  What  a  contrast  the  last  tragedy  to 
our  late  jubilee  !  God  seems  to  have  chosen  sacred 
days  for  his  messages,  —  on  two  successive  Sundays 
appointing  celebrations  of  victory,  —  and  now  giving  to 
Good  Friday  and  Easter  a  new  association  indeed  in 
Christian  minds  ! 

But,  on  this  dark  day,  my  purpose  with  you  is  not  a 
lament,  but  comfort.  Let  me  try  to  mention  some  con 
solations. 

First,  though  our  chief  magistrate  —  all  of  him  that 
could  die  —  is  dead,  THE  NATION  LIVES.  "What  is 
your  first  impression  ? "  asked  a  brother  clergyman, 
adding  that  his  was,  —  the  line  must  be  drawn  stricter 
between  the  friends  and  enemies  of  this  country.  A 
second  said  his  first  impression  was,  that  an  era  of  mis 
rule  had  come.  I  said,  my  first  impression,  after  the 
shock  of  grief,  was,  —  though  the  President  is  gone,  the 
nation  lives,  and  will  live  more  vital  and  vigorous  for 
this  blow.  What  did  the  madmen,  that  struck  at  the 
Chief  and  the  Secretary,  so  meanly — at  the  one  from 
behind  and  the  other  in  his  bed — think  to  do  ?  To  kill 
the  nation,  to  assassinate  liberty,  to  cut  the  throat  of 
law  ?  What  a  mistake  !  This  blow  will  hurt,  not  our 
cause,  but  only  the  hand  that  struck  it ;  and  no  mis 
chance  to  the  truth  be  suffered  by  Him  without  whom 
not  a  sparrow  falleth. 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  58 

It  is  one  consolation,  too,  that  slavery  died  more 
swiftly  and  surely  by  this  very  stroke.  Most  important 
is  it,  that  the  act  should  be  traced.  We  should  not  con 
nect  it  with  any  quarter  without  proof.  But  we  know 
its  general  and  most  authentic  origin.  It  is  not  from 
any  individual  alone,  but  from  the  barbarism  of  slavery. 
That  demon  whispered  in  the  actor's  ear  !  That  dragon 
fired  his  passion,  and  nerved  his  arm  !  His  birth  and 
breeding  were  in  the  hot-beds  and  centres  of  slavery, 
slave-breeding,  and  slave-trading.  With  indignation  for 
the  crime,  mingles  in  my  mind  infinite  pity  for  the  crimi 
nal,  whose  personal  guilt  has  what  palliation  depravity 
so  deep  can  find  in  early  nurture,  bitter  prejudice,  or 
constitutional  bias.  He  impersonated  slavery  itself  in 
that  theatre,  which  will  hang  henceforth,  one  of  the  most 
terrible  pictures  of  history,  on  the  walls  of  time  forever. 
The  horror  affords  this  solace ;  that  it  hints  the  death- 
agony  of  the  deadly  foe  of  our  republic.  The  monster, 
pursued  in  northern  seas,  is  never  more  dangerous  than 
in  his  dying  struggles.  Let  the  boat  beware,  that  ap 
proaches  him,  lest  the  last  lashing  of  his  tail  mix  the 
blood  of  its  crew  with  his  own !  With  a  worse  monster 
than  ever  swam  the  deep,  this  new  evidence  of  malig 
nity  should  move  us  to  keep  no  terms.  Let  this  last 
precious  life-current  it  has  caused  to  flow  be  the  mor 
dant  to  set  and  seal  the  color  of  our  eternal  hatred,  not 
to  its  misguided  supporters,  but  to  itself!  Now  that 
the  assassination,  which  has  been  for  four  years  and 
more  after  our  Head,  has  accomplished  its  end,  let  our 
consolation  be  in  the  slavery's  own  unsparing  destruc 
tion. 

5* 


54  SERMONS   ON   THE 

But  still  another  consolation  is  in  the  power  of  jus 
tice  returning  to  our  hands.  If  we  were  going  to  be  too 
lenient ;  if,  to  a  lax  and  vicious  good-humor,  we  were 
sacrificing  the  law  and  honor  of  God,  we  have  learned 
that  indulgence  is  not  equity,  and  leniency  is  not  love. 
Not  revenge  should  be  our  object ;  for,  spite  of  the  text 
that  ascribes  it  to  him,  I  do  not  believe  it  is  God's ! 
Nor  can  we  compass  the  absolute  justice  which  God 
alone  can  measure  out.  But,  for  the  protection  of  so 
ciety,  for  the  reformation  of  the  criminal,  for  the  guard 
ing  and  nursing  of  the  national  life,  we  must  watch 
every  motion,  and  strain  every  nerve.  Such  atrocities 
of  crime  as  can  be  traced  should  have  condign  sen 
tence.  Those  who  are  responsible  for  the  starving,  in 
Southern  pens  and  prisons,  of  our  captured  soldiers, 
should  have  due  penalty.  We  cannot  mete  out  the 
fair  desert  to  all  who  have  committed  treason.  We  can 
not  hang  a  community.  But  the  wicked  leadership,  the 
official  malice,  should  feel  our  express  displeasure,  in 
the  solemn  sentence  of  the  law.  Let  us  convert  what 
we  can,  disfranchise  what  has  sinned  basely,  and  banish 
with  the  mark  of  Cain  what  can  never  belong  to  us  ! 
We  are  gathering  power  to  do  this.  The  wild  beast, 
which  we  have  fought  so  long  in  the  wilderness  and  the 
woods,  we  are  getting  under.  Quickly  as  possible  let  us 
set  up  everywhere  the  civil  and  criminal  courts  !  What 
the  national  stomach  cannot  assimilate  it  must  vomit ; 
and  not  keep  it  in  the  system,  an  indigestible  and  poi 
sonous  lump. 

The  last  consolation  is,  that   God   can  sanctify  to  us 
our  supreme  earthly  ruler's  death.     He  would  not   have 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  55 

permitted  his  life  to  be  taken,  had  he  not  done  his 
work.  He  has  finished  it,  how  well  and  nobly! 
Perhaps  he  would  have  been  too  gentle  with  evil-doers 
in  the  time  to  come.  "  Sic  semper  tyrannis,"  shouted  the 
tragic  actor,  after  discharging  his  pistol,  as  he  brandished 
his  blade.  A  strange  motto  for  a  slave  state !  For  a 
murderer,  as  he  slew  the  softest-hearted  of  men,  a  mar 
vellous  cry  !  Sic  semper  tyrannis  !  "What !  for  him, 
Abraham  Lincoln,  the  mildest  among  all  he  was  set  over, 
mild  as  May,  into  whose  soul,  from  others'  opposition  or 
ridicule,  no  resentment  could  get ;  who  never  knew,  in 
the  way  of  authority  or  manner,  how  to  get  up  to  the 
dignity  of  his  office ;  whose  fault,  if  he  had  one,  was, 
that  he  was  not  sufficiently  stern  with  the  vileness  he 
could  not  comprehend  ;  a  man  of  the  people,  who  waited 
before  he  struck  at  crime ;  a  waiter  on  the  people, 
who  also  waited  on  the  Lord,  and  harkened  for  the  har 
mony,  yet  to  the  coming  of  God's  and  the  people's  voice, 
—  lie,  among  whose  last  accents  were  words  of  kindness 
to  the  rebellious  South,  HE  a  tyrant !  The  speaker  on 
the  stage  was  playing  indeed,  though  in  a  ferocious  way. 
He  feigned  or  fearfully  mistook  the  side  tyranny  was  on. 
Davis  and  Benjamin  and  Wigfall  and  Mason  and  Slidell 
not  the  tyrants  ?  Nay,  if  such  as  they  have  not  fallen  by 
any  privy  blow,  the  reason  is  not  that  they  are  not  tyrants, 
but  we  not  assassins.  Ah  !  could  the  agents  and  plotters 
of  this  ghastly  crime  have  themselves  only  waited  a  little 
while,  the  measureless  toils  of  our  beloved  one,  more  our 
servant  than  captain,  might  have  worn  him  out.  They 
need  not  have  been  so  eager  to  anticipate  the  fate  for 


56  SERMONS. 

him,  toward  which  he  was  so  rapidly  consuming  his  own 
strength. 

But  be  it  our  consolation,  that  the  chariot  of  the  Lord 
goes  forward.  He  that  takes  hold  of  the  spokes  of  its 
wheels,  shall  not  stop  it.  What  were  the  gentlest  lips, 
that  ever  spoke,  parted  to  say  ?  "  He  that  falls  on  this 
stone  shall  be  broken ;  but  on  whom  it  shall  fall,  it  will 
grind  him  to  powder."  Truly  "  the  wrath  of  man  shall 
praise  him,"  and  "  the  righteous  shall  be  in  everlasting 
remembrance."  The  "  blessed  martyr,"  that  bore  him 
self  so  meekly  in  the  greatest  station  on  earth,  has  gone 
to  his  harp  and  crown  in  heaven. 

After  toil, 
To  mortals  rest  is  sweet. 


REV.   J.    M.    MANNING. 


DEUTERONOMY  XXXIV:  4,  5. 


AND  THE  LORD  SAID  UNTO  HIM,  THIS  is  THE  LAND  WHICH  I 

SWARE  UNTO  ABRAHAM,  UNTO  ISAAC,  AND  UNTO  JACOB,  SAYING, 
I  WILL  GIVE  IT  UNTO  THY  SEED  ;  I  HAVE  CAUSED  THEE  TO  SEE 
IT  WITH  THINE  EYES,  BUT  THOU  SHALT  NOT  GO  OVER  THITHER. 
SO  MOSES,  THE  SERVANT  OF  THE  LORD,  DIED  THERE  IN  THE 
LAND  OF  MOAB,  ACCORDING  TO  THE  WORD  OF  THE  LORD. 


"ACCORDING  to  the  word  of  the  Lord."  Sweet 
announcement  to  a  broken-hearted  nation,  to-day ! 
"  Abraham  Lincoln  died  this  morning  at  twenty- two 
minutes  after  seven  o'clock."  That  was  the  message 
which  the  wires,  heavy-laden  with  their  tidings,  sobbed 
forth  yesterday  in  all  our  pleasant  places.  And  we  awoke 
from  our  troubled  sleep  this  morning,  and,  lo !  it  was 
not  a  dream !  "  According  to  the  word  of  the  Lord." 
"  Even  so,  Father,  for  so  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight." 
We  look  above  all  human  agency.  We  recognize  the 
will  that  never  errs  nor  falters,  and  that  worketh  all 
things,  in  Heaven  and  on  earth,  after  its  own  perfect 
counsel. 

"  So  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  died  there." 
He  had  brought  us  through  the  "  great  and  terrible 

(59) 


60  SERMONS  ON   THE 

• 

wilderness,"  unto  the  borders  of  our  goodly  heritage ;  but 
was  himself  forbidden  to  enter.  May  the  same  God, 
who  made  him  so  much  better  than  our  fears,  —  such  a 
father  to  us  all,  —  do  even  greater  things  for  the  Joshua 
who  succeeds  him  as  the  leader  of  our  Israel !  To  this 
petition,  every  heart  devoutly  responds  Amen!  New 
responsibilities  sober  men  oftentimes.  Possessing  real 
goodness  of  heart,  they  bend  their  shoulders  loyally  to 
the  unexpected  burden,  and  display  great  qualities  of 
which  they  were  thought  destitute  before.  Thus  a 
bereaved  nation  prays  and  hopes. 

How  incomplete,  how  complete,  the  dear  life  that  has 
passed  on !  The  surroundings,  the  hour,  the  instrumen 
tality,  —  how  painful !  Why  could  not  the  name  of  one 
whom  we  so  loved,  whom  we  so  tenderly  revered,  have  a 
seemlier  passage  to  its  immortality  ?  Thou,  Lord, 
knowest !  Thou  dost  not  respect  the  person  of  any  man. 
"  Wise  men  die,  likewise  the  fool  and  the  brutish  person 
perish."  "  Man  being  in  honor  abideth  not."  "  Like 
sheep  they  are  laid  in  the  grave ;  death  shall  feed  on 
them."  We  had  traced  a  resemblance,  often,  between 
our  beloved  President  and  the  great  Prince  of  Orange,  — 
called  William  the  Silent.  The  same  devotion  to  country, 
the  same  trust  in  a  Divine  Providence,  the  same  cautious 
and  persevering  wisdom,  the  same  tender  regard  for  the 
people  who  confided  in  them.  Oh,  could  not  the 
parallel  have  been  left  imperfect  ?  Must  it  be  carried  on 
to  the  bitter  end  ?  We  loved  to  think  that  they  were 
alike  in  their  patriotism  ;  but  —  poor,  blinded  mortals  ! — 
we  did  not  foresee  the  dreadful  event  that  was  to  make 
them  so  much  alike  in  their  death !  Both  slain  with  wife 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  61 

t» 

and  friends  around  them,  in  the  moment  of  social  free 
dom  and  unconcern,  by  the  assassin  who  long  had  been 
waiting  for  his  chance  to  strike. 

Let  me  quote  from  history,  •'  On  Tuesday,  the  10th 
of  July,  1584,  at  about  half-past  twelve,  the  Prince, 
with  his  wife  on  his  arm,  and  followed  by  the  ladies  and 
gentlemen  of  his  family,  was  going  to  the  dining-room. 
William  the  Silent  was  dressed  upon  that  day,  according 
to  his  usual  custom,  in  very  plain  fashion.  He  wore  a 
wide-leaved,  loosely-shaped  hat  of  dark  felt,  with  a 
silken  cord  round  the  crown, —  such  as  was  worn  by  the 
Beggars  in  the  early  days  of  the  revolt.  A  high  ruff 
encircled  his  neck,  from  which  also  depended  one  of  the 
Beggar's  medals,  while  a  loose  surcoat  of  grey  frieze 
cloth,  over  a  tawny  leather  doublet,  with  wide,  slashed 
underclothes,  completed  his  costume.  Gerard  ( the 
murderer )  presented  himself  at  the  doorway  and  de 
manded  a  passport.  The  Princess,  struck  with  the  pale 
and  agitated  countenance  of  the  man,  anxiously  ques 
tioned  her  husband  concerning  the  stranger.  The  Prince 
carelessly  observed  that  it  was  merely  a  person  who 
came  for  a  passport ;  ordering,  at  the  same  time,  a  secre 
tary  to  prepare  one.  The  Princess,  still  not  relieved, 
observed  in  an  under-tone  that  she  had  never  seen  so 
villanous  a  countenance.  Orange,  however,  not  at  all 
impressed  with  the  appearance  of  Gerard,  conducted 
himself  at  table  with  his  usual  cheerfulness,  conversing 
much  with  the  burgomaster  of  Leewarden,  the  only 
guest  present  at  the  family  dinner,  concerning  the  politi 
cal  and  religious  aspects  of  Friesland.  At  two  o'clock 
the  company  rose  from  the  table.  The  Prince  led  the 
6 


62  SERMONS  ON   THE 

* 

way,  intending  to  pass  to  his  private  apartments  above. 
The  dining-room  which  was  on  the  ground-floor,  opened 
into  a  little  square  vestibule,  which  communicated, 
through  an  arched  passage-way,  with  the  main  entrance 
into  the  court-yard.  This  vestibule  was  also  directly  at 
the  foot  of  the  wooden  staircase  leading  to  the  next 
floor,  and  was  scarcely  six  feet  in  width.  Upon  its  left 
side,  as  one  approached  the  stairway,  was  an  obscure 
arch,  sunk  deep  in  the  wall,  and  completely  in  the 
shadow  of  the  door.  Behind  this  arch  a  portal  opened 
to  the  narrow  lane  at  the  side  of  the  house.  The  stairs 
themselves  were  completely  lighted  by  a  large  window, 
half-way  up  the  flight.  The  Prince  came  from  the 
dining-room,  and  began  leisurely  to  ascend.  He  had 
only  reached  the  second  stair,  when  a  man  emerged  from 
the  sunken  arch,  and,  standing  within  a  foot  or  two  of 
him  discharged  a  pistol  full  at  his  heart.  Three  balls 
entered  his  body,  one  of  which,  passing  quite  through 
him,  struck  with  violence  against  the  wall  beyond.  The 
Prince  exclaimed  in  French,  as  he  felt  the  wound, 
"O  my  God,  have  mercy  upon  my  soul!  O  my  God, 
have  mercy  upon  this  poor  people  !  " 

Such  was  the  death,  and  such  the  last  exclamation  of 
the  great  and  good  father  of  modern  liberty,  the  son  and 
sire  of  illustrious  princes,  the  wise  subverter  of  despot 
isms,  the  champion  of  popular  rights,  to  whom,  more 
than  to  any  other  man  perhaps,  the  world  is  indebted 
for  free  institutions  and  free  ideas.  Who  can  doubt, 
if  strength  had  been  left  our  good  President  when  the 
fatal  bullet  struck  him,  that  he  also  would  have  exclaim 
ed,  '•  O  my  God,  have  mercy  upon  my  soul !  O  my  God, 
have  mercy  upon  this  poor  people  ?  " 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  63 

So  alike,  in  the  circumstances  of  their  departure,  how 
doubly  consoling  now  to  trace  the  previous  parallel 
between  their  lives. 

Listen.  "  His  constancy  in  bearing  the  whole  weight 
of  a  struggle  as  unequal  as  men  have  ever  undertaken, 
was  the  theme  of  admiration  even  to  his  enemies.  The 
rock  in  the  ocean,  '  tranquil  amid  raging  billows,'  was 
the  favorite  emblem  by  which  his  friends  expressed  their 
sense  of  his  firmness."  Can  you  not,  as  you  hear 
these  words,  almost  see  the  calm  figure  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  his  cabinet,  quietly  meditating  his  wise  plans 
of  deliverance,  while  the  nation  was  quaking  with  fear, 
and  some  were  wildly  urging  him  to  take  the  archives 
and  flee  ?  That  rock,  "  tranquil  amid  the  raging  bil 
lows,"  has  sunk  to  re-appear  in  another  Sea  where,  as  we 
would  fain  hope,  only  the  billows  of  peace  shall  kiss  it 
forever  more.  Hear,  again,  of  the  immortal  Prince, 
whom  our  chief  magistrate  so  closely  resembled.  "  The 
supremacy  of  his  political  genius  was  entirely  beyond 
question.  He  was  the  first  statesman  of  the  age.  The 
quickness  of  his  perception  was  only  equalled  by  the 
caution  which  enabled  him  to  mature  the  results  of  his 
observations.  His  knowledge  of  human  nature  was  pro 
found.  He  governed  the  passions  and  sentiments  of  a 
great  nation  as  if  they  had  been  but  the  keys  and  chords 
of  one  vast  instrument ;  and  his  hand  rarely  failed  to 
evoke  harmony  even  out  of  the  wildest  storms."  Strange 
that  this  man  should  have  lived  three  hundred  years  ago  ! 
It  seems  to  us  that  we  saw  him  but  yesterday,  laying  his 
patient  hand  upon  a  sea  of  warring  interests  and  opin 
ions,  and  soothing  them  to  peace  and  loyal  co-operation  ; 


64  SERMONS   ON   THE 

moving  so  evenly  that  neither  extreme  was  pleased  at  first, 
though  both  were  satisfied  at  last ;  now  seeming  to  go 
beyond,  and  now  to  come  short  of  our  eager  wish.  Yet 
true  to  his  great  duty,  as  the  North-star  to  its  eternal 
vigil,  high  and  calm  and  clear,  always  in  his  place, 
shining  with  still  and  equal  beam  until  our  morning 
began  to  dawn,  then  wrapping  his  mantle  of  light  about 
him,  and  joining  the  mighty  host  of  the  invisible. 

"  God  alone  knows  the  heart  of  man.  He  alone  can 
unweave  the  tangled  skein  of  human  motives,  and  detect 
the  hidden  springs  of  human  action ;  but,  as  far  as  can 
be  judged  by  a  careful  observation  of  undisputed  facts, 
and  by  a  diligent  collation  of  public  and  private  docu 
ments,  it  would  seem  that  no  man,  not  even  Washing 
ton,  has  ever  been  inspired  by  a  purer  patriotism." 
That  was  said  of  Orange,  after  all  the  history  of  his 
public  and  private  life  had  been  carefully  summed  up. 
But  there  is  much  in  Abraham  Lincoln — the  sweetest 
and  tenderest  traits  in  his  character — of  which  we  have 
seen  but  glimpses  yet.  Still  we  feel  no  hesitation  to-day 
in  placing  him,  so  far  as  patriotism  and  honesty  of 
motive  can  go,  on  the  same  pedestal  with  Washington. 
And  then,  beyond  what  we  now  accord  him,  how  his 
name  will  brighten  as  it  rises  out  of  present  conflicts 
into  the  serene  sky  of  history,  as  all  his  little,  half- 
forgotten  acts  of  love  come  welling  up  into  the  memo 
ries  of  us  all ;  as  prejudice  and  passion  cease  clouding 
our  vision,  and  we  see  him  "  travelling  in  the  greatness 
of  his  strength,"  one  of  the  choice  company  of  imperial 
souls,  garmented  and  crowned  with  the  gratitude  of  the 
ages,  along  the  starry  pathways  of  the  immortal ! 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  65 

"His  temperament  was  cheerful.  At  table,  the  plea 
sures  of  which,  in  moderation,  were  his  only  relaxation, 
he  was  always  animated  and  merry,  and  this  jocoseness 
was  partly  natural,  partly  intentional.  In  the  darkest 
hours  of  his  country's  trial,  he  affected  a  serenity  which 
he  was  far  from  feeling,  so  that  his  apparent  gayety,  at 
momentous  epochs,  was  even  censured  by  dullards,  who 
could  not  comprehend  its  philosophy.  He  went  through 
life  bearing  the  load  of  a  people's  sorrows  on  his  shoul 
ders  with  a  smiling  face.  Their  name  was  the  last  word 
upon  his  lips,  save  the  simple  affirmative  with  which  the 
soldier  who  had  been  battling  for  the  right  all  his  life 
time,  commended  his  soul,  in  dying,  '  to  his  great  cap 
tain,  Christ.'  The  people  were  grateful  and  affection 
ate,  for  they  trusted  the  character  of  their  '  Father  Wil 
liam,'  and  not  all  the  clouds  which  calumny  could  collect 
ever  dimmed  to  their  eyes  the  radiance  of  that  lofty 
mind,  to  which  they  were  accustomed,  in  their  darkest 
calamities,  to  look  for  light.  As  long  as  he  lived,  he 
was  the  guiding-star  of  a  whole  brave  nation,  and  when 
he  died  the  little  children  cried  in  the  streets."  How 
apt  the  characterization !  The  Hollanders  never  said 
"Father  William"  more  affectionately  than  we  shall 
say  "  Father  Abraham"  henceforth.  He  did  "  bear  the 
load  of  a  people's  sorrows  on  his  shoulders  with  a  smil 
ing  face."  We  do  understand,  at  length,  "  the  philoso 
phy  of  that  jocoseness "  which  troubled  some  of  us  at 
times  while  he  lived.  It  was  the  oil  lubricating  the 
overtasked  mechanism  of  that  patient  body  and  mind. 
It  was  the  kind  disguise,  under  which  he  concealed  from 
us  the  deep  anxiety  of  his  heart,  and  bade  us  hope  on, 
6* 


66  SERMONS    ON   THE 

as  though  he  were  not  himself  almost  ready  to  despair. 
It  is  plain  to  us  now.  We  would  not  have  his  quaint 
stories  one  the  less.  Death  has  touched  his  unstudied 
manners,  and  lo  !  they  are  full  of  an  immortal  charm. 
Woe  to  the  biographer  who  attempts  to  make  him  any 
thing  less  plain  than  he  was  !  Woe  to  the  artist  who 
tries  to  soften  one  feature,  or  to  take  one  line  out  of  his 
honest  face  !  We  love  him,  just  as  he  was.  We  cannot 
spare  one  of  his  peculiar  traits.  He  must  be  all  there, — 
in  history,  in  our  memory,  in  imagination, — forever  al 
lowed  to  be  just  what  God  made  him.  And  we  will  risk 
the  verdict  of  the  ages,  for  God's  noblest  work  is  an 
honest  man. 

In  one  point  the  parallel  between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  the 
Prince  of  Orange  fails.  The  Prince  made  a  tour  through 
the  provinces,  "  honoring  every  city  with  a  brief  visit. 
The  spontaneous  homage  which  went  up  to  him  from 
every  heart  was  pathetic  and  simple.  There  were  no 
triumphal  arches,  no  martial  music,  no  banners,  no  the 
atrical  pageantry,  —  nothing  but  the  choral  anthem  from 
thousands  of  grateful  hearts.  '"Father  William  has 
come  !  Father  William  has  come  !'  cried  men,  women, 
and  children  to  each  other,  when  the  news  of  his  arrival 
in  town  or  village  was  announced.  He  was  a  patriarch 
visiting  his  children,  not  a  conqueror  nor  a  vulgar  po 
tentate  displaying  himself  to  his  admirers.  Happy  were 
they  who  heard  his  voice,  happier  they  who  touched  his 
hands  ;  for  his  words  were  full  of  tenderness,  his  hand 
was  offered  to  all.  There  were  none  so  humble  as  to  be 
forbidden  to  approach  him,  none  so  ignorant  as  not  to 
know  his  deeds." 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  67 

"  None  so  humble  as  to  be  forbidden  to  approach 
him."  Is  there  any  but  one  man  alone,  of  whom  we 
can  think  to-day,  as  we  hear  those  words  ?  the  tall, 
swaying  form  rising  to  welcome  the  poor  freedwoman 
into  his  own  family  circle,  —  bidding  her  sit  down  in  his 
own  arm-chair,  the  tears  gathering  in  his  eyes  as  he  lis 
tened  to  her  simple  story  of  sufferings  and  wrongs,  — 
introducing  her  to  his  wife  and  friends,  and  waiting  upon 
her  as  carefully  as  though  she  had  been  a  queen.  "  His 
words  were  full  of  tenderness."  That  we  might  know 
by  looking  into  his  deep,  sad,  almost  tearful  eyes.  "  He 
was  very  pitiful,  and  of  tender  mercy."  And  the  tones 
of  his  voice,  falling  on  the  ear  of  distress  and  wretched 
ness,  will  linger,  in  sweet  benedictions,  until  the  ears 
that  heard  them  are  dull  and  cold  as  his  own.  "A 
patriarch  visiting  his  children."  Such  he  would  have 
been,  no  doubt,  had  he  lived  to  indulge  his  goodness, 
and  to  please  the  ardent  wish  of  thirty  millions  of 
people.  We  know  what  our  welcome  would  have  been. 
But  we  cannot  conceive  the  great  love  which  would 
have  gushed  up  unto  him  out  of  the  soft  hearts  of  a 
disenthralled  and  enfranchised  race.  His  first  concern 
was  to  save  "  his  children,"  then  he  would  have  leisure 
to  "visit"  them.  Thank  God,  we  are  permitted  to 
believe  that  he  fulfilled  the  main  purpose :  may  he 
receive,  in  the  streets  of  the  Golden  City,  the  offerings 
of  love  which  are  due  him  from  his  delivered  "  children!" 
"  No  triumphal  arches,  no  martial  music,  no  banners, 
no  theatrical  pageantry,"  but  a  voice,  as  the  voice  of 
many  waters,  saying  unto  him,  next  after  the  Lamb 


68  SERMONS   ON   THE 


that  was  slain,  "  THOU  HAST  REDEEMED   us   BY   THY 


BLOOD  ! " 

How  incomplete,  yet  how  complete  ! 

"  No  waning  of  fire,  no  quenching  of  ray, 
But  rising,  still  rising,  when  passing  away  ! 
Farewell,  and  all  hail !  thou  art  buried  in  light ! 
God  speed  thee  to  heaven,  O  star  of  our  night !" 

How  complete  !  Would  he  not  say  so,  as  to  all  that 
concerned  his  country,  if  his  spirit  could  stoop  for  a 
moment,  and  touch  those  cold  lips  which  are  sealed  for 
ever  ?  Would  it  not  have  filled  out  the  utmost  stretch 
of  his  ambition  and  earthly  hope,  when  he  came  from 
his  simple  home  in  the  West,  had  he  known, — that  the 
State  across  which  he  was  borne  secretly  and  in  dis 
guise,  would  come  first,  singing  the  paeans  of  freedom, 
to  lay  its  offerings  of  thanksgiving  at  his  feet ;  that  he 
should  live  to  issue,  in  the  providence  of  God,  a  procla 
mation  giving  manhood  and  womanhood  to  four  millions 
of  slaves ;  that  he  should  hear  of  his  own  plain  name, 
tenderly  spoken  all  over  the  earth  wherever  goodness  is 
revered  and  liberty  loved  ;  that  he  should  be  permitted, 
by  his  wise  counsels,  seconded  by  the  able  captains 
whom  he  drew  to  his  cause,  to  make  his  distracted 
country  feared  and  respected  throughout  the  civilized 
world ;  that  the  very  day  on  which  his  summons  to 
eternity  should  come,  would  be  but  the  fourth  anniver 
sary  of  the  day  on  which  the  Starry  Banner  stooped  to 
the  dust  at  Fort  Sumter ;  and  that  on  that  day  the 
same  banner,  by  the  same  hand  which  surrendered  it, 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  69 

should  be  lifted  up  to  its  ancient  height,  but  covered 
with  more  than  its  ancient  glory, —  had  he  foreknown  all 
this,  would  he  not  have  said,  "  Lord,  that  will  be 
enough :  then  let  thy  servant  depart,  for  mine  eyes  will 
have  seen  thy  salvation  ?  " 

"  Follow  now,  as  ye  list !  the  first  mourner  to-day 
Is  the  nation,  —  whose  Father  is  taken  away  ! 
Wife,  children,  and  neighbor  may  moan  at  his  knell, 
He  was  lover  and  friend  to  his  country  as  well ! 
For  the  stars  on  our  banner,  grown  suddenly  dim, 
Let  us  weep,  in  our  darkness,  —  but  weep  not  for  him  ! 
Not  for  him,  —  who,  departing,  leaves  millions  in  tears  ! 
Not  for  him,  —  who  has  died  full  of  honor  and  years  ! 
Not  for  him,  — who  ascended  fame's  ladder  so  high, 
From  the  round  at  the  top  he  has  stepped  to  the  sky  ! 
It  is  blessed  to  go  when  so  ready  to  die  !  " 

I  will  not  attempt  to  scan  the  counsels  of  the  Most 
High,  and  to  say  why  it  is  that  we  are  thus  bereaved. 
Perhaps  it  is  better  for  us  that  we  should  be  orphans 
to-day,  than  that  he  whom  we  loved  to  call  "  Father" 
should  have  been  spared.  His  paternal  heart,  had  it 
still  throbbed  in  life,  might  have  proved  too  tender  for 
the  stern  work  we  are  yet  to  do.  He  disliked  the  sight 
of  blood.  He  was  melted  by  tears.  He  was  made  soft 
as  woman  by  the  tones  of  pleading  wretchedness.  We 
do  not  know ;  but  there  is  One  who  does  know.  The 
Eye  which  looks  through  all  things,  may  see,  in  the 
feeble  man  whom  He  now  chooses,  a  strong,  innate  sense 
of  justice.  That  man,  upheld  by  our  sympathies  and 
prayers,  and  inspired  by  God's  special  grace,  may  prove 
to  be  the  sword  of  divine  justice,  executing  wrath  upon 


70  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  evil-doers.  Those  who  naturally  exult  over  the 
tragedy,  may  find  that  only  mercy  is  slain,  while  ven 
geance  yet  lives !  Lives,  did  I  say  ?  ah,  yes !  and 
roused  up  to  an  intensity  of  fury  which  will  require  all 
our  might  to  restrain  !  "  Traitors  !  would  you  have  for 
giveness  ?  go  seek  it  of  him  whom  your  bloody  hands 
have  slain !  "  —  that  is  the  voice  which  now  rises  up 
and  rolls  over  the  land,  from  shore  to  shore.  But  God's 
way  is  "  far  above."  It  is  his  glory  to  conceal  a  thing. 
"  Who  hath  known  the  mind  of  the  Lord,  or  who  hath 
been  his  counsellor  ? "  It  seems  to  us,  even  in  this 
bitter  hour,  that  we  see  the  trailing  splendors  of  the 
inner  light  which  he  inhabits  ;  "  but  how  little  a  portion 
is  known  of  Him  ?  the  thunder  of  his  power  who  can 
understand  ?  " 

We  have  one  occasion  of  thanks,  in  this  hour  of 
agony,  in  the  fact  that  our  departed  ruler  was  not  a 
king.  Had  he  been  the  sovereign,  who  can  tell  what 
anarchy  might  now  ensue  ?  But  the  people  are  the 
sovereign,  and  he  was  their  minister.  We  may  thank 
God  that  our  "  king  never  dies."  He  is  myriad-handed 
and  myriad-eyed.  We  look  for  no  disturbance,  no  be 
wilderment,  for  no  wandering  up  and  down,  as  of  sheep 
not  having  a  shepherd ;  but  for  a  full  and  clear  compre 
hension  of  the  exigency  of  the  hour  ;  for  a  calm  wisdom, 
and  prompt  energy,  on  the  part  of  a  great  people,  which 
has  successfully  grappled  Math  so  many  dangers  in  the 
past.  Perhaps  God  is  giving  us  our  grand  opportunity 
to  show  to  an  incredulous  world,  that  we  are  indeed  a 
government  by  the  people.  Had  not  our  beloved  Presi 
dent  been  taken  from  us,  had  he  lived  until  we  were 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  <1 

clearly  out  of  all  our  troubles,  it  might  have  been 
pleaded  that  his  personal  wisdom  carried  us  through. 
Not  so  now.  That  cavil  against  free  governments  can 
not  be  made.  We  may  solve  the  problem  on  its  own 
ground  now,  with  no  helping  element  to  throw  uncer 
tainty  around  the  result.  We,  by  our  steadiness  to 
duty  and  firm  resolve,  may  now  prove,  that,  whoever 
dies  and  whoever  lives,  while  the  people  live  the  gov 
ernment  cannot  be  overthrown,  or  falter  in  its  course. 

But  ah  !  poor  human  reason,  be  still.  I  seem  to  hear, 
"  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God.  Shall  I  not  do 
what  I  will  with  mine  own  ?  And  may  I  not  choose  my 
own  instruments,  with  which  to  rule  in  the  armies  of 
heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  earth  ? "  O  my 
brother  mourners  !  let  us  take  refuge  in  the  thought  that 
"  the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth."  Not  a  sparrow 
falleth  on  the  ground  without  your  heavenly  Father. 
The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away,  and 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.  When  father  and 
mother  forsake  me,  the  Lord  shall  take  me  up.  He 
careth  for  us  in  the  day  of  our  orphanage  and  grief. 
His  arm  is  stronger  than  any  arm  of  flesh,  —  an  ever 
lasting  arm,  and  it  is  underneath  us  all.  He  saves  us 
from  the  terror  by  day,  and  the  fear  by  night.  All 
events,  and  the  passions  and  outfoaming  wrath  of  men, 
are  subject  unto  Him.  He  holds  them  and  us,  and  our 
nation  and  the  world,  all  the  living,  and  the  departed 
whom  we  mourn,  in  the  golden  net-work  of  his  purposes 
of  love.  And  He  will  show  us,  when  He  unrolls  that 
web  to  the  eye  of  "the  incorruptible,"  that  all  its  threads 
are  mercy  and  judgment ;  and  that  the  hand  which  has 


72  SERMONS. 

woven  it  through  the  ages,  and  wrapped  it  around  all 
the  interests  of  all  the  children  of  men,  has  never  been 
stretched  out  or  withholden,  nor  lifted  up  in  seeming 
displeasure,  but  to  fulfil  some  kind  and  wise  design. 

"  AND  THE  CHILDREN  OF  ISRAEL  WEPT  FOR  MOSES  IN  THE 
PLAINS  OF  MOAB  THIRTY  DAYS  I  SO  THE  DAYS  OF  WEEPING  AND 
MOURNING  FOR  MOSES  WERE  ENDED. 

AND  JOSHUA,  THE  SON  OF  NUN,  WAS  FULL  OF  THE  SPIRIT  OF 
WISDOM  ;  FOR  MOSES  HAD  LAID  HIS  HANDS  UPON  HIM :  AND  THE 
CHILDREN  OF  ISRAEL  HARKENED  UNTO  HIM,  AND  DID  AS  THE 
LORD  COMMANDED  MOSES." 


REV.    JOHN  E.    TODD 


PRESIDENT   LINCOLN. 


THE  LORD  BEIGNETH. —  Psalms  xciii  :  1. 


GOD  cannot  die.  Beyond  the  reach  of  the  fatal  dart 
of  disease,  or  the  withering  touch  of  creeping  age,  or  the 
breath  of  the  pestilence,  or  the  missiles  of  battle,  or  the 
arm  of  the  cowardly  assassin,  He  lives  and  reigns ;  and  His 
throne,  girt  with  justice  and  judgment,  mercy  and  truth, 
is  forever  and  ever,  and  the  thoughts  of  His  heart  are  unto 
all  generations.  This  is  our  only  consolation  to-day. 

It  would  be  in  vain  for  me  to  attempt  to  speak  to  you 
at  this  time  on  any  other  subject  than  the  one  which  fills 
every  mind  and  heart ;  and  yet  I  have  nothing  to  offer 
but  the  confused  and  bewildered  thoughts  of  a  mind  which 
is  still  too  much  under  the  influence  of  the  excitement 
and  horror  of  the  recent  shock,  to  be  able  to  act  clearly 
and  collectedly. 

The  tidings  were  too  terrible  to  be  comprehended  or 
credited  at  once  :  the  President  foully  assassinated  in 
the  very  presence  of  the  people,  with  deliberate  fore 
thought  ;  the  Secretary  of  State  stabbed  while  lying  on 
a  sick  bed,  and  his  attendants  killed  and  wounded.  Other 

(75) 


76  SERMONS   ON   THE 

important  officers  of  government,  —  the  Secretary  of 
War,  the  Lieutenant- General  of  the  United  States  Army, 
—  escaped  only,  without  doubt,  in  consequence  of  unex 
pected  detention  from  the  President's  side.  Such  was 
the  dreadful  story.  It  was  ticked  off  at  first,  at  mid 
night,  to  a  few  blanched  faces,  and  was  rejected.  It 
came  again  with  stronger  authority.  It  stared  out  in 
grim  and  terrible  lines  from  the  morning  papers,  making 
the  brain  of  the  reader  to  reel,  and  the  heart  to  grow 
sick.  It  was  told  in  husky  and  frightened  tones  by  one 
to  another,  and  with  voices  choked  with  tears.  It 
leaped  from  face  to  face,  pale  and  livid,  as  we  never  saw 
the  faces  of  the  people  before.  It  began  to  fringe  the 
flags,  and  darken  the  streets  which  were  but  recently  so 
gay.  It  began  to  create  gloom,  and  a  hush  and  loneli 
ness  in  business  haunts,  which,  but  a  few  days  since, 
were  filled  with  crowds  and  processions  and  cheers  and 
music.  It  began  to  wail  from  steeple  to  steeple.  It 
broke  at  last  from  the  cannon's  mouth  in  solemn  thunder. 
And,  at  length,  we  begin  to  realize  to-day,  that  our 
beloved  President  is  no  more. 

It  is  a  terrible  national  calamity,  such  as  has  not  fallen 
upon  us  since  we  became  a  nation.  It  is  an  atrocious 
crime  such  as  is  almost  unparalleled  in  history.  It  is 
universally  regarded  as  such  by  the  people.  Never  have 
they  been  so  moved.  No  tidings  of  victory  or  defeat, 
not  even  the  intelligence  of  the  first  assault  upon  the 
flag  at  Sumter  has  so  stirred  the  depths  of  popular 
feeling.  The  country  is  swept  to-day  by  a  storm  of 
silent  but  intense  and  very  dangerous  passion. 

The  feelings  which  these  heavy  tidings   have  univer- 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  77 

sally  excited,  are  —  I  mention  them  in  the  order  in 
which  they  naturally  arise — horror,  grief,  rage,  anxiety. 
The  country  is  convulsed  with  these  emotions. 

The  first  emotion  experienced  by  every  one  upon 
learning  of  this  terrible  event  was  one  of  unmitigated 
horror,  and  it  is  a  feeling  from  which  we  have  not  yet 
recovered.  There  were  various  things  fitted  to  intensify 
it.  We  had  not  yet  recovered  from  the  ecstasies  of 
delight  occasioned  by  victories  unprecedented  in  modern 
warfare,  and  which  gave  promise  of  speedy  peace.  The 
horrible  tidings  found  us  on  the  heights  of  exultation, 
and  the  fall  in  our  feelings,  and  the  shock,  were  propor 
tionally  tremendous.  It  was  of  all  things  the  least 
expected.  At  an  earlier  stage  in  our  national  troubles, 
grave  apprehensions  were  entertained  of  attempts  upon 
the  President's  life.  But  for  four  years  the  enemy  had 
forborne  to  resort  to  assassination ;  and,  among  tho 
people  of  the  loyal  States,  the  President  had  been  stead 
ily  gaining  in  the  confidence  and  esteem  and  love  of  all. 
It  was  hardly  imagined  that  he  could  have  a  personal 
enemy.  The  crime  seemed  horrible,  because  perpetrated 
upon  a  person  of  such  high  position,  the  head  of  a 
powerful  nation,  the  equal  of  a  king,  or  rather  the 
superior ;  for  kings  rule  by  birthright,  Presidents  by  the 
people's  choice.  It  seemed  horrible,  because  it  was 
committed  upon  a  man  of  such  unoffending  goodness. 
It  seemed  horrible,  because  it  was  committed  from  such 
a  motive.  Assassination  is  a  new  weapon  in  politics  in 
this  country.  It  seemed  horrible,  because  it  was  a  part 
of  a  conspiracy  against  a  number  of  the  heads  of  govern 
ment,  and  was  executed,  so  far  as  it  was  executed,  with 
7* 


78  SERMONS   ON   THE 

such  brutal  and  blood-thirsty  ferocity.  It  seemed 
horrible  from  the  circumstances  of  its  commission. 
With  that  confidence  in  his  fellow-citizens  which  has  dis 
tinguished  every  President,  and  led  him  to  dispense  with 
a  body-guard,  —  a  confidence  which  President  Lincoln 
had  especial  right  to  feel,  he  had  gone  with  a  part  of  his 
family,  unattended,  to  the  theatre ;  not  that  he  cared  to 
go,  but  that  he  did  not  care  to  disappoint  the  people. 
He  had  been  received  with  unusual  demonstrations  of 
enthusiasm  and  affection.  Seated  in  a  rocking-chair  by 
the  side  of  his  wife,  and  with  a  multitude  of  his  people 
around  him,  and  regarding  him  as  a  father,  he  rested 
from  the  cares  of  office.  Suddenly  a  man,  —  a  man  !  — 
availing  himself  of  the  President's  confidence,  approached 
him  stealthily  from  behind,  and,  without  a  word  of  warn 
ing,  with  a  coward's  hand  and  eye,  fired  at  his  head ; 
then,  rushing  to  the  front,  dropped  upon  the  stage, 
brandished  a  knife,  and  uttered  a  tragic  exclamation  in 
his  last  role,  disappeared  behind  the  scenes,  threaded 
the  familiar  passages,  emerged  into  the  open  air,  and 
escaped.  Escaped?  Ah,  no  !  he  should  have  committed 
his  crime  among  some  people  less  unitedly  devoted  to 
their  Chief  Magistrate ;  he  should  have  done  it  in  the 
empire  of  some  other  God.  He  will  not  escape.  He 
may  take  the  wings  of  the  morning  and  fly  to  the  utter 
most  parts  of  the  sea ;  he  may  make  his  bed  in  hell ; 
but  he  will  not  escape. 

The  first  feeling  of  uncontrollable  horror  is  succeeded 
by  one  of  profound  grief.  It  is  not  merely  sorrow  that 
such  a  crime  should  have  to  darken  the  annals  of  Amer 
ican  history.  It  is  not  merely  disappointment  in  being, 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  79 

after  all,  cheated  out  of  the  ruler  of  our  choice.  It  is 
not  merely  the  gloom  which  a  great  crime  always  throws 
upon  a  community.  It  is  not  merely  a  regret  for  the 
uncertainty  which  this  event  throws  upon  our  future. 
There  is  in  the  heart  of  the  people  a  profound  grief 
arising  from  a  sincere  and  very  strong  attachment  to 
President  Lincoln.  And  well  he  deserved  our  attach 
ment.  This  is  not  the  time  to  enter  upon  any  extended 
or  thorough  examination  of  his  life  and  character ;  but 
I  cannot  omit  this  opportunity  to  add  my  humble  tribute 
to  his  worth  to  those  of  my  countrymen. 

President  Lincoln  assumed  the  reins  of  government 
when  the  whole  country  was  in  confusion,  when  whole 
States  were  in  rebellion,  when  the  hands  of  the  gov 
ernment  were  paralyzed.  He  was  bitterly  hated  and 
opposed  by  a  great  minority,  even  in  the  States  by 
which  he  was  elected.  He  was  ridiculed  and  hooted, 
not  only  by  the  press  of  the  enemy,  but  by  that  of  all 
Europe.  During  his  administration  he  has  felt  com 
pelled  to  employ  not  a  few  measures  which  have  created 
very  great  discussion  and  feeling.  And  yet,  after  four 
years  of  unprecedented  difficulties  and  trials,  he  has 
come  forth,  I  need  not  tell  you  with  what  triumphant 
successes  for  our  country ;  —  I  need  not  tell  you  with 
what  enthusiastic  admiration  of  his  countrymen,  even  of 
many  who  once  opposed  him  ;  with  what  admiration  and 
respect  in  foreign  lands,  and  among  the  enemy..  Such 
a  record  is  one  of  which  to  be  proud,  and  proves  that 
he  had  greatness. 

He  was  never  a  leader,  he  always  followed  public  sen 
timent  ;  but  he  followed  it  with  the  accuracy  and  fidelity 


80  SERMONS  ON   THE 

of  a  stag-hound.  Some  of  us  would  have  preferred  a 
bolder  and  fiercer  leader ;  but,  on  looking  back,  we  can 
see  that  such  an  one  would  either  have  ended  our  strife 
prematurely  before  its  results  were  accomplished,  or  more 
probably  would  have  divided  us  so  that  we  never  could 
have  done  anything.  Some  of  us  have  disapproved  of 
some  of  his  measures,  but  the  result  has  generally  shown 
that  he  was  more  sagacious  than  we.  He  may  some 
times  have  erred,  in  the  opinions  of  some,  from  the  strict 
line  of  prerogative,  but  his  sterling  principle  and  noble 
purposes  kept  such  aberrations,  if  there  were  any,  from 
doing  harm.  He  was  a  man  of  the  purest  and  highest 
motives,  and  the  strongest  principle.  His  chief  aim  was 
the  welfare  of  his  people,  and  with  the  heart  of  a  true 
statesman  he  loved  all,  even  his  rebellious  people.  He 
was  willing  to  sacrifice  himself  to  any  extent.  He  never 
used  his  office  and  power  to  enrich  himself  or  his  family. 
He  did  not  allow  himself  to  be  governed  by  his  party, 
or  to  become  a  tool  in  the  hands  of  his  political  friends. 
He  never  espoused  theories,  but  was  governed  by  expe 
rience.  He  never  took  any  notice  of  abuse, — never  lost 
his  self-control.  He  could  not  be  brought  to  a  hasty 
decision  ;  could  not  be  turned  when  once  decided.  He 
endured  the  mistakes  and  disobediences  of  his  civil  and 
military  officers  with  a  patience  which  was  marvellous. 
The  people  had  learned  to  have  confidence,  not  only  in 
his  honesty  of  purpose,  but  in  his  strength  and  sagacity 
of  mind.  His  personal  character  was  without  a  stain. 
His  manners  were  plain, but  unaffected  and  hearty.  His 
benevolence  was  unbounded.  Many  are  the  hospitals 
which  he  has  visited,  the  soldiers  whom  he  has  grasped 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  81 

by  the  hand,  the  widows  and  mothers  to  whom  he  has 
sent  a  word  or  line  of  sympathy,  the  personal  appeals 
from  the  humblest  individuals  which  he  has  answered. 
Nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  his  kindness  toward 
the  colored  race,  and  the  earnest  and  determined  purpose 
with  which  he  set  about  their  emancipation,  and  yet  the 
subordination  in  which  he  kept  this  sovereign  purpose  to 
the  work  of  extinguishing  the  rebellion. 

His  faults,  for  grave  faults  undoubtedly  he  had,  were 
principally  those  of  over-leniency  and  generosity,  delib 
eration  and  patience, — faults  which  would  have  been 
excellences  in  less  desperate  times,  and  which  even  in 
these  times  have  probably  been  our  salvation.  His  vir 
tues  were  such  as  would  have  adorned  a  king.  There 
is  another  bond  between  President  Lincoln  and  many  of 
us,  a  bond  which  not  even  death  can  sever.  He  was,  to 
all  appearance,  a  Christian  man,  and  in  the  sense  in 
which  we  understand  the  term.  If  a  conversation  which 
has  been  reported  really  occurred,  he  professed  to  have 
consecrated  himself  amid  the  graves  of  Gettysburg  to  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  to  be  endeavoring  to  live  by  the 
faith  of  Him  who  loved  us  and  gave  Himself  for  us. 
The  public  documents  which  have  issued  from  his  pen 
have  certainly  been  remarkable,  especially  of  late,  for 
their  religious  tone.  This  trait  in  President  Lincoln's 
character,  so  distinguishing  him  from  all  his  predecessors, 
rendered  him  especially  interesting  to  the  Christian  mind, 
and  will  irradiate  his  grave  with  a  peculiar  and  glorious 
hope.  We  have,  at  length,  a  President  who  "  sleeps  in 
Jesus." 

President  Lincoln  was  remarkably  a  man  of  the  peo- 


82  SERMONS  ON   THE 

pie,  and  not  merely  in  having  traits  which  won  popular 
confidence.  He  was  one  of  the  people.  He  rose  from 
the  humblest  class  ;  he  had  a  popular  way  of  talking  and 
writing ;  he  could  get  hold  of  the  popular  heart.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  any  of  our  Presidents,  even  Washing 
ton  himself,  was  so  thoroughly  in  the  sympathies  and 
affections  of  the  people  as  President  Lincoln  was.  The 
people  themselves  did  not  know  how  much  they  loved 
him,  till  he  was  stricken  down.  There  have  been  many 
bitter  tears  shed  in  every  city  and  hamlet  of  the  North, 
within  the  last  few  hours,  over  the  tidings  of  his  fall. 
Strong  men  have  wept,  and  been  convulsed  with  grief,  as 
if  they  had  lost  a  father  or  a  brother.  Oh,  if  votes  could 
raise  him  from  that  bier  to  that  chair  of  state,  what  a  ballot 
would  the  North  cast  now !  The  nation  mourns,  with  a 
sincere  and  sacred  grief.  No  such  sorrow  has  ever 
touched  the  national  heart.  These  draperies,  in  which 
the  land  is  dressed  to-day,  these  solemn-tolling  bells, 
which  speak  to  one  another  from  valley  to  valley,  from 
hill-top  to  hill-top,  give  expression  to  no  formal  mourn 
ing  ;  they  tell  of  a  real,  profound,  and  mighty  grief. 

There  is  a  consolation  in  the  midst  of  this  grief;  in 
the  return  of  a  day  suggestive  to  very  many  minds  of  a 
triumph  over  death.  We  do  not  follow  our  noble  chief- 
magistrate  to  the  grave  with  the  feeling  that  this  is  the 
last.  We  are  spared  the  sadness  with  which  we  are  too 
often  compelled  to  witness  the  end  of  earthly  greatness. 
Gloom  has  no  place  around  the  grave  of  the  Christian. 
How  sublime  and  comforting  those  words  which  seem  to 
float  to-day  over  the  whole  land,  echoing  through  its 
numberless  cemeteries  and  battle-fields,  and  lingering  to 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  83 

touch  alike  the  bier  of  the  Christian  President  and  the 
sod  that  covers  the  Christian  slave,  "  I  am  the  resurrec 
tion  and  the  life ;  he  that  believeth  in  me,  though  he 
were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live"  ! 

There  is  another  feeling  which  naturally  succeeds  the 
emotions  of  horror  and  grief;  it  is  rage.  I  would  not 
say  a  word  to  inflame  the  passions  and  exasperation 
which  are  already  filling  the  public  mind.  I  would 
rather  say  that  which  may  soothe  excited  feelings.  It  is 
a  time  for  every  man  to  lay  upon  himself  a  strong  con 
trol.  It  is  easy  at  such  a  time  to  be  ungenerous  and 
unjust.  Let  us  discountenance  all  violence  and  passion, 
and  seek  the  punishment  of  evil-doers  only  through  the 
legally  constituted  channels.  Let  us  not  be  violent  even 
in  our  defence  of  the  fallen.  Let  us  remember  that  there 
is  one  thing  more  sacred  than  even  friendship,  and  that 
is  liberty.  The  contemptible  creatures  who  profess  to 
rejoice  in  the  work  of  an  assassin  are  not  worth  spend 
ing  rage  upon  ;  there  is  nobler  game  afoot.  Let  us  not 
waste  too  much  passion  upon  the  perpetrators  of  this 
dastardly  crime ; —  not  that  they  are  not  deserving  of 
indignant  condemnation,  and  condign  punishment; 
they  must  receive  it.  But  their  importance  is  not  com 
mensurate  with  the  mischief  which  they  have  done.  To 
lavish  indignation  upon  them  is  to  misuse  and  waste  it. 

Let  us  not  jump '  hastily  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
perpetrators  of  this  vile  deed  were  in  the  employ  or  the 
counsels  of  the  enemy.  For  one,  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  Southern  leaders  are  too  honorable  to  stoop  to  such 
a  deed ;  I  do  not  believe  that  they  are  too  shrewd  to  see 
that  it  would  injure  rather  than  serve  them.  But  let  us 


84  SERMONS   ON   THE 

not  come  to  conclusions  without  proof.  We  can  wait 
for  the  light  of  evidence. 

But  there  is  one  direction  in  which  the  general  indig 
nation  may  be  properly  turned,  —  always  in  lawful  ways 
and  the  appropriate  channels,  —  and  that  is  against  the 
rebellion,  and  all  who  uphold  it.  The  real  spirit  of 
secession,  the  kind  of  men  who  are  most  devoted  to 
it,  the  conduct  which  it  inspires,  are  made  obvious  in 
one  more  notable  instance.  If,  in  the  providence  of  God, 
this  last  utmost  stroke  of  malignity  shall  be  the  means 
of  opening  the  eyes  of  this  people  to  the  real  character 
and  spirit  of  secession  and  secessionists,  the  calamity 
will  not  have  been  sent  altogether  in  vain.  It  will  begin 
to  be  found  out  at  last,  that  the  men  who  are  rabid  with 
secession,  the  leaders,  or  rather,  the  mis-leaders  of  the 
South,  are  not  men  to  be  paroled,  and  let  off  with  politi 
cal  disabilities,  and  shaken  by  the  hand,  and  feted  : 
they  are  men  to  be  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts,  and 
sent  to  the  prison  and  the  gallows ;  that  secession  is 
not  to  be  vanquished  by  leniency  and  kindness,  but  is  to 
be  stamped  out  with  the  iron  heel.  This  is  said,  not  in 
any  spirit  of  vengeance  and  wrath,  but  from  a  solemn 
conviction  that  the  true  interests  of  the  country,  and  true 
humanity  and  religion,  require  the  prosecution  of  a  vig 
orous  policy  of  extermination  and  utter  subjugation. 

The  spirit  of  secession  has  at  "last  shown  itself  in 
every  possible  variety  of  form.  It  is  the  spirit  of  hate, 
the  spirit  of  murder,  the  spirit  of  cowardly  cruelty  and 
treachery,  the  spirit  of  barbarism,  the  spirit  of  hell.  If 
men  will  not  renounce  it  now,  and  all  connection  with 
it,  and  all  sympathy  with  it,  let  them  be,  by  the  proper 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  85 

authorities  of  course,  cut  down  without  mercy.  Let  our 
indignation  take  the  form,  not  of  frantic  and  revengeful 
passion,  but  a  stern  and  united  determination  that  this 
rebellion,  with  its  leaders,  and  with  all  who  persist  in^ 
upholding  it,  shall  be  wiped  out,  so  that  no  one  will 
ever  be  able  to  find  the  stain  where  it  was. 

There  is  one  other  feeling  which  fills   almost  every 
mind,  —  it  is  anxiety. 

President  Lincoln's  life  was  one  on  which  much 
seemed  to  be  depending.  He  had  won  the  confidence 
of  the  people ;  he  was  meeting  with  triumphant  suc 
cess  ;  his  policy  was  somewhat  apprehended ;  his  plans " 
seemed  to  be  working  well.  But  now  a  cloud  is  sud 
denly  fallen  upon  the  future.  What  kind  of  a  man  the 
new  President  will  prove  himself,  —  who  will  be  his 
friends  and  advisers,  — what  policy  he  will  pursue,  and 
what  the  results  will  be,  —  how  well  he  will  succeed  in 
uniting  the  people  in  himself,  —  and  what  is  before  us, 
are  matters  of  blind  conjecture.  I  might  present  to 
you  some  considerations  of  a  subordinate  character,  cal 
culated  to  afford  hope  and  encouragement ;  I  might 
point  you  to  the  cheering  features  in  the  past  career  of 
the  new  chief  magistrate ;  I  might  remind  you  of  the 
overwhelming  successes  already  achieved,  and  how  little 
in  the  way  of  conquest  remains  to  be  done  ;  I  might 
show  you,  that  the  union  and  strength  of  feeling  which 
this  very  calamity  has  caused  is  auspicious :  but  of  the 
worth  of  such  considerations,  you  are  better  able  to 
judge  than  I.  I  prefer  only  to  remind  you  that  we  are 
under  the  rule  of  a  wise  and  benignant  God,  who  dis 
poses  and  ordains  all  things  for  the  best.  What  He 
8 


86  SERMONS  ON  THE 

does  we  do  not  always  know  now,  but  we  shall  know 
hereafter.  The  event  which  has  crushed  our  hopes  and 
spirits  seems  to  be  one  of  those  mysterious  and  inscru 
table  permissions,  with  which  He  is  wont  to  remind  us, 
that  His  ways  are  not  as  our  ways.  To  us  it  seems  a 
terrible  and  irreparable  calamity.  I  confess,  that  as  I 
look  at  it  from  one  side  and  another,  I  can  hardly  find 
a  single  bright  spot  to  relieve  its  darkness.  But  let  us 
have  faith  in  God ;  I  doubt  not  that  He  has  some  wise 
purpose  to  serve,  some  great  end  in  view,  though  it  is 
now  hidden  from  us.  I  cannot  fathom  His  motive  in 
allowing  this  awful  crime  ;  perhaps  this  was  needed  to 
bring  the  people  to  some  desired  point ;  perhaps  He  had 
a  work  to  be  done  fitter  for  some  other  hands  than  those 
which  have  done  so  much  noble  work,  and  are  now  for 
ever  still ;  perhaps  He  found  that  we  were  not  hum 
bled  enough,  and  has  more  trouble  in  store  for  us  ;  I 
will  not  pretend  to  explain  the  enigma,  but  I  am  very 
sure  that  there  is  wisdom  and  mercy  in  it  all ;  and 
wisdom  and  mercy  for  us.  I  do  not  believe  that  God 
intends  anything  but  that  which  in  the  end  will  be  best 
for  our  beloved  but  unhappy  country  ;  the  prayers  and 
tears  of  our  fathers  will  not  permit  Him  to  give  us  up  to 
ruin.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  safety  and  prosperity  of 
this  country  are  dependent  upon  the  life  of  any  one  man, 
however  great  and  good  ;  much  less  can  I  believe  that 
they  are  in  the  hands  of  an  infuriated  and  probably 
drunken  actor.  God  is  able  to  raise  up  other  instru 
ments  instead  of  those  that  he  lays  down.  Moses  may 
lie  down  to  die,  on  the  very  borders  of  the  promised 
land,  but  a  Joshua  shall  be  raised  up  to  lead  the  people 
in  to  possess  it.  And  it  is  remarkable  how  often  it 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  87 

happens,  in  the  providence  of  God,  that  the  Moses  dies. 
It  is  seldom  granted  to  the  same  man  to  guide  through 
the  desert,  and  to  enter  into  the  land  of  promise. 

For  President  Lincoln  himself,  perhaps  there  was  no 
better  time  to  pass  away.  He  fell  in  the  very  height  of 
glory.  Just  re-established  in  the  Presidential  chair  by 
the  overwhelming  choice  of  his  countrymen,  risen  into 
the  profound  respect  of  the  civilized  world,  permitted  to 
see  his  long  watchings  and  toils  crowned  with  success, 
to  rejoice  in  stupendous  military  achievements,  in  the 
prospect  of  speedy  peace,  and  in  the  assured  approach 
of  universal  freedom,  to  fall  honored  by  all  men, 
wept 'by  a  nation,  in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  with 
his  cabinet  around  him,  with  a  nation  waiting  in 
tears,  in  the  hope  of  the  gospel,  was  a  death  be 
coming  a  Christian  patriot, — a  glorious  death  to  die. 
It  may  be  that  he  could  not,  in  a  hundred  years,  have 
found  a  moment  in  which  to  fall  so  lamented,  or  leave 
behind  him  such  a  memory.  Henceforth  a  humble  tomb 
in  the  capital  of  Illinois  will  divide  with  Mount  Vernon 
the  homage  and  pilgrimages  of  our  countrymen.  Perhaps 
if  these  mighty  dead,  the  leaders  in  the  two  wars  for 
freedom,  are  permitted  to  revisit  their  resting-places,  the 
murdered  President  will  experience  the  greater  joy,  in 
finding  not  only  his  head-stone  worn  with  the  kisses  of 
his  own  race,  but  the  sods  of  his  grave  sprinkled  with  the 
tears  of  eyes  that  used  to  weep  in  the  house  of  bondage. 

God  bless  the  memory  of  Abraham  Lincoln ! 

God  bless  the  President ! 

God  in  his  mercy  bless  and  save  these  United  States 
of  America ! 


REV.  JAMES  FREEMAN  CLARKE. 


8* 


2    TIM.   1  :   10. 


WHO    HATH    ABOLISHED    DEATH. 

[Indiana-Place  Chapel  was  decorated  on  Easter  with  appro 
priate  and  symbolic  ornaments.  The  entire  chancel  was  covered 
with  a  rich  purple  fabric  looped  to  the  wall  at  different  points  with 
wreaths  of  white  flowers.  Over  the  chancel,  fixed  to  the  wall, 
was  a  large  cross  surmounted  by  a  crown,  and  at  the  side 
appeared  the  words  "  He  is  Risen,"  each  worked  in  foliage  and 
flowers.  There  were  also  numerous  bouquets  and  single  speci 
mens  of  choice  flowers  and  plants  placed  at  different  points  in  the 
chapel,  which,  writh  the  national  colors  draped  in  mourning 
drooping  from  the  gallery,  heightened  the  general  effect.] 

WHEN  JESUS  died,  it  seemed  as  if  the  last  hope  of  the 
world  had  perished.  It  seemed  as  if  God  had  left  the 
earth  alone,  —  it  seemed  as  if  there  was  no  Providence 
left.  It  was  the  blackest  hour  in  the  history  of  the 
human  race.  The  power  of  darkness  was  at  its  height. 
Satan  had  conquered  God.  One  man  had  at  last 
appeared  capable  of  redeeming  mankind ;  he  had  given 
himself  to  that  work,  —  one  man  teaching  and  believing 
a  religion  spiritual,  humane,  free ;  above  ceremony, 
above  dogmas,  above  all  fanaticism,  enthusiasm,  formality. 

(91) 


92  SERMONS   ON   THE 

He  was  here  ;  the  one  being  who  knew  God  wholly  and 
human  nature  exactly ;  who  could  say,  "  I  and  my 
Father  are  one,"  "  I  and  my  brother  are  one."  No  sin 
terrified  him,  for  he  was  able  to  cure  the  foulest  diseases 
of  the  human  heart  and  soul.  From  him  flowed  a  life, 
a  vital  power,  which  strangely  overcame  diseases  of  the 
body  and  the  soul.  He  was  young  :  he  had  just  begun 
his  work.  A  world  dying  of  weariness,  an  exhausted 
civilization,  a  worn-out  faith,  longed  to  be  regenerated. 
The  great  auroral  light  of  Greek  intelligence  had  died 
away.  The  stern  virtue  of  Rome  had  ended  in  effemi 
nacy  and  slavery.  The  world,  prematurely  old,  asked 
to  be  made  young  again  ;  and  here  was  the  being  who 
could  do  it.  And  then  men  took  him  and  murdered  him. 
They  assassinated  their  best  friend.  BLACK  TREASON,  in 
the  form  of  Judas ;  COWARDLY  DESERTION,  in  his  disci 
ples  ;  SHAMEFUL  DENIAL  and  FALSEHOOD,  in  the  person 
of  Peter;  TIME-SERVING  SELFISHNESS,  in  Pilate;  CRUEL 
POLICY,  in  the  priests  ;  BLIND  RAGE,  in  the  people ; 
COLD-BLOODED  BARBARISM,  in  the  Roman  soldiers,  — 
all  these  united  in  one  black,  concentrated  storm  of  evil, 
to  destroy  the  being  so  true,  so  tender,  so  gentle,  so 
brave,  so  firm,  so  generous,  so  loving.  It  was  the  blackest 
day  in  the  history  of  man. 

And  yet  we  do  not  call  it  Black  Friday  or  Bad  Fri 
day  ;  we  call  it  GOOD  FRIDAY.  We  call  it  so,  because 
the  death  of  Christ  has  abolished  death ;  because  evil 
that  day  destroyed  itself;  sin,  seeming  to  conquer,  was 
conquered.  And  so  we  see,  in  the  death  and  resurrection 
of  Jesus,  the  great  law  revealed,  that  we  pass  through 
death  to  life,  through  sorrow  to  joy,  through  sin  to  holi- 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  93 

ness,  through  evil  and  pain  to  ultimate  and  perfect 
good. 

We  dress  our  church  in  flowers  to-day  in  token  of  this 
triumph.  Nature,  every  spring,  renews  her  miracle  of 
life  coming  out  of  death.  The  little,  tender  buds  push 
out  through  the  hard  bark.  The  delicate  stalks  break 
their  way  up  through  the  tough  ground.  The  limbs  of 
the  trees,  which  yesterday  clattered  in  the  wind,  mere 
skeletons,  are  now  covered  with  a  soft  veil  of  foliage. 
Earth  clothes  itself  with  verdure,  and  these  spring  flow 
ers  come,  the  most  tender  of  the  year.  They  come,  like 
spirits,  out  of  their  graves,  to  say  that  Nature  is  not  dead 
but  risen.  Look  at  these  flowers, — living  preachers! 
"  each  cup  a  pulpit  and  each  bell  a  book,"  and  hear 
from  every  one  of  them  the  word  of  comfort :  "  Be  not 
anxious,  be  not  fearful,  be  not  cast  down  ;  for  if  God  so 
clothe  us,  and  so  brings  our  life  out  of  decay,  will  He 
not  care  for  you  and  yours  evermore?" 

On  this  day  of  the  resurrection  we  commemorate  the 
subjugation  of  the  last  enemy,  —  Death.  "  He  has  abol 
ished  death,"  says  our  text.  Abolished  it ;  or,  as  the 
same  word  is  elsewhere  translated,  "  made  it  void"  ;  that 
is,  emptied  it  of  reality  and  substance ;  left  it  only  a 
form  ;  "made  it  of  no  effect ;  destroyed  it;  brought  it  to 
nothing ;  caused  it  to  vanish  away."  Death  to  the  Chris 
tian  ought  not  to  be  anything.  If  we  are  living  in  ter 
ror  of  death,  if  we  are  afraid  to  die,  if  we  sorrow  for  our 
friends  who  die  as  those  who  have  no  hope,  then  we  are 
not  looking  at  it  as  Christians  ought.  We  ought  to  be, 
and  we  can  be,  in  that  state  of  mind  in  which  death  is 
nothing  to  us. 


94  SERMONS   ON    THE 

For  what  makes  death  terrible  ?  First,  it  is  terrible 
because  it  ends  this  life,  and  all  the  enjoyment  and  inter 
est  of  this  life.  We  are  made  with  a  love  of  life,  and 
God  means  we  should  love  it. 

We  are  made  to  be  happy  in  the  sight  of  nature  ;  in  this 
great  panorama  of  sky  and  land,  hill  and  plain,  sea  and 
shore,  forest,  mountain,  rivers,  clouds,  day  and  night, 
moon  and  stars,  work  and  play,  study  and  recreation, 
labor  and  sleep.  We  are  made  to  enjoy  the  society  of 
friends,  the  love  of  the  near  and  dear,  the  quiet  of  home, 
the  march  of  events,  the  changes  of  the  seasons,  the 
vicissitudes  of  human  and  national  life.  Death  seems  to 
be  the  end  of  all  this  ;  and  so  we  shrink  from  death.  But 
that  is  because  we  do  not  see  that  all  these  things  are 
the  COMING  OF  GOD  to  us ;  that  these  are  God's  words 
and  God's  actions ;  that  when  surrounded  by  nature  we 
are  in  the  arms  of  God,  and  that  all  these  things  are 
from  him,  and  through  him,  and  to  him.  And  as  when 
we  die  we  do  not  go  away  from  God,  so  we  shall  not  go 
away  from  all  this  beautiful  variety  and  harmony,  this 
majestic  order  and  transcendent  beauty  of  creation.  We 
shall  doubtless  have  more  of  it,  know  it  better,  enjoy  it 
more  entirely.  And  so,  since  Christ  makes  us  realize 
the  presence  of  God  in  nature,  history,  life,  he  abolishes 
thereby  that  death  which  seems  to  come  to  take  us  from 
them. 

Another  thing  which  makes  death  a  terror  is  our  own 
consciousness  of  sin.  The  sting  of  death  is  sin.  But 
Christ  removes  this  sense  of  sin,  by  bringing  to  us  the 
pardon  of  sin.  The  conditions  are  simple  and  practi 
cable  :  repentance  and  faith.  If  we  turn  from  our  sin 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  95 

and  renounce  it,  and  then  trust  in  the  pardoning  grace 
of  God,  we  are  forgiven  our  sin.  Then  not  only  the 
mercy,  but  the  truth  and  justice  of  God  are  pledged  to 
forgive  us.  "  If  we  confess  our  sin,  God  is  faithful  and 
just  to  forgive  us  our  sin."  No  one  need  to  remain 
with  a  sense  of  unforgiven  sin  in  his  heart.  In  his 
dying  hour,  as  in  his  life,  Jesus  sought  to  lead  mankind 
out  of  the  feeling  of  sin  into  that  of  reconciliation. 
When  he  said  to  the  sinful  woman,  "  Go,  and  sin  no 
more  ;  neither  do  I  condemn  thee  " ;  when  he  said  of  the 
other  sinful  woman,  "Her  sins,  which  are  many,  are  for 
given;  for  she  loved  much"  ;  when  he  told  the  story  of 
the  prodigal  son,  to  show  how  God  sees  us  when  a  great 
way  off,  and  receives  us  back  at  once  into  the  fulness  of 
his  love ;  when,  at  his  death,  he  said,  "  This  is  my 
blood,  which  is  shed  for  you,  and  for  many,  for  the 
forgiveness  of  sin,"  he  sent  into  the  soul  of  men  the 
conviction  that  they  could  be  at  one  with  God  notwith 
standing  their  evil. 

And  the  resurrection  of  Christ  has  abolished  death, 
because  it  shows  us  that  death,  instead  of  being  a  step 
down,  is  a  step  up.  It  shows  us  Christ  passing  on  and 
up,  through  death,  to  a  larger  life.  It  shows  that  when 
he  died  he  did  not  close  his  work  for  man,  but  began  to 
do  it  more  efficiently.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  was 
the  resurrection  of  Christianity ;  the  rising  up  of  human 
faith  and  hope.  Jesus  rose  into  a  higher  life,  and  his 
disciples  then  rose  into  a  higher  faith.  They  became 
strong,  brave,  generous,  true.  Their  weaknesses  and 
follies  fell  away  from  them.  Christianity  broke  the 
narrow  bands  of  Jewish  ceremony,  and  became  the  reli- 


96  SERMONS   ON   THE 

gion  of  humanity  and  of  all  time.  The  world  seemed  to 
have  lost  everything  when  Christ  died  ;  but  it  really  gained 
everything.  His  followers,  "risen  with  him,"  "sitting 
in  heavenly  places  "  with  him,  sought  and  found  deeper, 
higher,  larger  views  of  Christianity.  And  so  his  word 
was  fulfilled :  "  I,  if  I  be  raised  up,  shall  draw  all  men 
unto  me." 

When  the  awful  news  came  yesterday  morning  of  the 
assassination  of  our  President  and  of  Mr.  Seward,  and 
the  other  murders  which  accompanied  those  acts,  it 
seemed  impossible  to  dress  this  church  with  flowers, 
impossible  to  keep  Easter  Sunday  with  joy  to-day.  As 
on  Thursday  we  changed  a  Fast  into  a  Thanksgiving,  so 
it  seemed  to  be  necessary  to-day  to  change  this  feast  of 
joy  into  a  day  of  fasting  and  sorrow.  Yet,  after  all,  the 
feelings  and  convictions  appropriate  to  Easter  are  what 
we  need  to-day.  When  we  say  "  Christ  is  arisen," 
we  are  lifted  into  that  higher  faith  which  is  our  only 
support  and  comfort  in  calamities  like  these. 

Perhaps  the  crime  committed  last  Friday  night,  in 
Washington,  is  the  worst  ever  committed  on  any  Good 
Friday  since  the  crucifixion  of  Christ.  It  was  not  only 
assassination,  —  for  despots  and  tyrants  have  been 
assassinated,  —  but  it  was  parricide ;  for  Abraham 
Lincoln  was  as  a  father  to  the  whole  nation.  The 
nation  felt  orphaned  yesterday  morning,  when  the  black 
tidings  came ;  for  during  these  four  years  we  had  come 
to  depend  on  the  cautious  wisdom,  the  faithful  con 
science,  the  shrewdness,  the  firmness,  the  patriotism  of 
our  good  President.  We  have  all  quarrelled  with  him 
at  times  ;  we  wished  he  would  go  faster ;  we  wished 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  97 

he  had  more  imagination,  more  enthusiasm :  but  we 
forget  all  our  complaints  to-day,  in  the  sense  of  a  great 
and  irreparable  calamity.  Had  he  been  a  tyrant  and 
despot,  there  would  have  been  the  excuse  for  the  act 
which  we  make  for  Brutus  and  Cassius  ;  but  the  chief 
fault  of  Abraham  Lincoln  was  that  he  was  too  forgiving 
to  his  enemies,  too  much  disposed  to  yield  to  those  from 
whom  he  differed,  and  to  follow  public  opinion  instead 
of  controlling  it.  He  could  not  bear  to  punish  those 
who  deserved  it ;  and  the  man  who  will  suffer  the  most 
from  his  death  is  his  murderer,  for  had  Lincoln  lived, 
he  would  have  forgiven  him.  Simple  in  his  manners, 
unostentatious,  and  without  pretence ;  saying  his  plain 
word  in  the  most  direct  way,  and  then  leaving  off ;  he 
yet  commanded  respect  by  the  omnipresence  of  an  honest 
purpose,  and  the  evident  absence  of  all  personal  vanity 
and  all  private  ends.  Since  Henry  IV.  fell  by  the  dagger 
of  Ravaillac,  no  such  woe  has  been  wrought  on  a  nation 
by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  Good  Friday  was  well 
chosen  as  the  day,  —  a  day  dedicated  to  the  murder  of 
benefactors  and  Saviours.  We  shall  miss  him  often  in 
the  years  to  come,  for  when  shall  we  find  among  poli 
ticians  one  so  guileless  ;  among  strong  men  one  with  so 
little  wilfulness ;  among  wise  men  one  with  so  much 
heart ;  among  conservative  men  one  so  progressive ; 
among  reformers  one  so  prudent  ?  Hated  by  the  South 
from  that  instinct  which  makes  bad  men  hate  the  good 
ness  which  stands  between  them  and  their  purpose,  he 
never  hated  back  ;  reviled  by  the  most  shameless  abuse, 
he  never  reviled  again.  Constant  amid  defeat  and 
disaster,  he  was  without  exultation  in  success.  After 
9 


98  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  surrender  of  Lee,  he  caused  to  be  written  on  the 
Capitol  the  words,  "  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  giveth  us 
the  victory." 

And  so  we  find  him  mourned  equally  by  the  con 
servative  and  the  progressive  wing  of  the  loyal  people, 
because  he  was  in  reality  a  thoroughly  conservative  and 
a  thoroughly  progressive  man.  Both  could  depend  on 
him  as  truly  their  own  leader.  For  his  moderation  was 
not  the  negative  moderation  of  a  compromise  which 
balances  between  two  extremes,  but  the  positive  modera 
tion  of  the  large  sincerity  which  accepts  the  truth  on 
both  sides.  The  Conservatives  knew  that  he  was 
sincerely  cautious,  and  were  sure  he  would  never  act 
rashly.  The  Progressives  knew  that  he  was  sincerely 
ready  to  reform  evils  ;  and  though  he  might  move  slowly, 
certain  to  move  forward. 

Fortunate  man  !  who  thus  exhausted  the  experience  of 
life,  beginning  as  a  splitter  of  rails  and  ending  in  a  chair 
higher  than  a  monarch's  throne ;  studying  his  grammar 
by  the  fire-light  of  a  log-cabin  when  a  boy ;  when  a 
man,  addressing  the  senate  and  people  from  the  capitol 
of  a  great  nation ;  tried  by  hardship,  hardened  by  labor, 
toughened  by  poverty,  developed  by  opportunity,  trained 
by  well-fulfilled  duties,  chosen  by  God  to  be  the  emanci 
pator  of  a  race,  and  the  saviour  of  a  nation's  life ;  and 
then,  having  finished  his  work  and  seen  the  end  'near, 
crowned  with  the  martyr's  halo,  to  be  made  immortal 
through  all  history  and  all  time  as  the  chief  actor  in  the 
greatest  drama  of  modern  days.  Happy  in  life  ;  happy 
also  in  the  opportunity  of  death,  for  when  could  death 
come  more  welcome  than  on  that  day,  when,  having 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  99 

emancipated  the  slave,  having  conquered  the  rebellion, 
having  walked  into  Richmond  and  written  a  letter  at 
Mr.  Jefferson  Davis'  desk,  and  having  directed  the  flag 
to  be  restored  on  Fort  Sumter,  he  commanded  recruiting 
to  cease  throughout  the  land,  and  declared  to  Europe 
that  the  blockade  was  at  an  end,  and  the  war  over  as  far 
as  foreign  nations  were  concerned  ?  Macaulay  says  of 
Hampden  :  "  Others  could  conquer,  he  alone  could 
reconcile.  It  was  when,  to  the  sullen  tyranny  of  Laud 
and  Charles  had  succeeded  the  fierce  conflicts  of  sects 
and  factions,  ambitious  of  ascendency,  and  burning  for 
revenge ;  it  was  when  the  vices  and  ignorance  which  the 
old  tyranny  had  generated  endangered  the  new  freedom,, 
that  England  missed  that  sobriety,  that  self-command, 
that  perfect  soundness  of  judgment,  that  perfect  recti 
tude  of  intention,  to  which  the  history  of  revolutions 
furnishes  no  parallel,  —  or  furnishes  a  parallel  in 
Washington  alone." 

"  The  history  of  revolutions  has  furnished  another  par 
allel  in  Abraham  Lincoln."  So  says  a  late  London  jour 
nal;  for  even  London  journals  have  learned  to  look 
through  the  rough  shell  to  the  rich  kernel.  Abraham 
Lincoln  is  essentially  of  the  same  type  as  Washington. 
Washington  was  born  and  bred  a  patrician,  —  the  lord  of 
slaves  and  of  broad  acres.  Lincoln  was  born  and  bred 
a  plebeian,  —  a  man  of  the  people.  But  subtract  these 
surface-differences  and  they  were  radically  the  same  ; 
each  built  up  of  CONSCIENCE  and  of  COMMON  SENSE. 
Neither  of  them  had  imagination;  but  that  was  a  bless 
ing  :  it  saved  their  lives.  For  if,  in  addition  to  the 
heavy  weight  of  real  responsibilities,  there  had  been 


100  SERMONS   OX   THE 

added  the  sleepless  anxiety  of  a  mind  which  constantly 
pictures  to  itself  all  possible  contingencies,  they  would 
both  have  died,  worn  out  by  exhaustion.  In  the  gallery 
of  the  world's  great  men  our  good  Abraham  Lincoln  will 
stand  hereafter  by  the  great  shape  of  Washington,  hav 
ing  as  great  a  work  to  do  as  he,  and  having  done  it  as 
well. 

But  what  shall  we  do  without  him  ?  What  shall  be 
come  of  us,  in  this  doubtful  Present  around  us,  this  dark 
Future  approaching  us  ?  We  thought  our  trials  over ; 
they  seem  about  to  begin  anew.  But  we  have  learned 
in  these  years  to  see  the  hand  of  God  in  all  things,  and 
how  He  makes  the  wrath  of  the  wicked  to  praise  Him. 
Still  let  us  believe  that  He  knows  what  we  need,  and 
that  this  black  event  will  also  turn  to  good.  Let  the 
day  on  which  he  fell  teach  us  a  lesson  —  saddest  day  in 
the  history  of  men.  The  death  of  Jesus,  at  the  begin 
ning  of  his  work,  seemed  the  direst  calamity  that  could 
befall  mankind.  It  was  the  loss  of  the  one  being  whom 
the  world  could  not  afford  to  lose,  —  the  one  perfect  soul 
the  race  had  produced  ;  cut  off,  with  his  word  appa 
rently  half  uttered,  his  work  seemingly  half  done,  his 
life  half  lived,  leaving  only  a  few  half- taught  disciples 
behind  him. 

But  as  out  of  that  evil  came  so  much  good,  so  out  of 
this  God  will  educe  the  blessings  and  discipline  we  want. 
tWe  thought  our  trials  over ;  but  perhaps  we  need  more. 
The  people  of  the  North,  always  hopeful  and  good- 
natured,  needed  perhaps  another  example  of  the  spirit  of 
barbarism  which  has  grown  up  in  slavery,  in  order  not 
to  trust  again  with  power  any  of  this  existing  race  of 
rebels.  Always  audacious,  they  were  just  about  to 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN. 


.101- 


come  together  to  tell  us  how  the  Union  was  to  be  recon 
structed.  Having  been  beaten  in  the  field,  they  were 
quietly  stepping  forward  to  claim  the  results  of  victory. 
But  this  murder  has  probably  defeated  their  expectations. 
As  Abraham  Lincoln  saved  us,  while  living,  from  the 
open  hostility  and  deadly  blows  of  the  slaveholders  and 
secessionists,  so,  in  dying,  he  may  have  saved  us  from 
their  audacious  craft,  and  their  poisonous  policy.  We 
are  reminded  again  what  sort  of  people  they  are. 

It  is  idle  to  say  that  it  was  the  work  only  of  one  or 
two.  When  the  whole  South  applauded  Brooks  in  his 
attempt  to  assassinate  Charles  Sumner ;  when,  during 
these  four  years,  they  have  been  constantly  offering 
rewards  for  the  heads  of  Lincoln  and  of  Butler ;  and 
when  no  eminent  Southern  man  has  ever  protested 
against  these  barbarisms,  they  made  themselves  accesso 
ries  before  the  fact  to  this  assassination.  Throughout 
the  South,  to-day,  there  is,  probably,  very  general  exul 
tation.  FOOLS  AND  BLIND  !  Throughout  the  North, 
this  murder  will  arouse  a  stern  purpose,  not  of  revenge, 
we  trust,  or  only  such  a  revenge  as  will  consist  with  the 
memory  of  Lincoln.  The  revenge  we  shall  take  for  the 
murder  of  Lincoln  will  be,  to  raise  the  loyal  black  popu 
lation  of  the  South  not  only  to  the  position  of  freemen, 
but  of  voters  ;  to  shut  out  from  power  forever  the  leaders 
of  the  rebellion ;  to  re-admit  no  Southern  State  into  the 
Union  until  it  has  adopted  a  free-state  constitution,  and 
passed  that  anti-slavery  amendment  so  dear  to  Abraham 
Lincoln's  heart.*  We  might  not  have  insisted  on  these 

*  See,  at  the  end  of  this  discourse,  an  extract  from  the  sermon 
preached  by  the  writer  on  Fast  Day,  the  day  before  this  assassi 
nation,  in  regard  to  these  points. 
9* 


102  „     .>.  SERMONS   ON   THE 

conditions,  —  perhaps  it  was  necessary  for  Lincoln  to 
die,  to  bring  the  nation  to  the  point  of  demanding  them. 

I  suppose  that  since  the  beginning  of  the  world,  there 
never  was  an  hour  in  which  a  whole  nation  experienced 
at  the  same  moment  such  a  pang  as  was  felt  from  Maine 
to  San  Francisco  yesterday  morning.  The  telegraphic 
wires  sent  a  thrill  of  horror  into  every  city  and  every 
large  town  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  on  the  Kennebec 
and  the  Missouri,  at  the  same  time.  It  was  like  the 
blow  of  a  hammer  descending  on  the  heart  of  the  nation. 
But  such  a  hammer  and  fire  welds  together  the  soul  of  a 
people  into  a  strong,  righteous  purpose.  As  the  attempt 
of  Guy  Fawkes  to  destroy  the  British  Parliament  united 
all  England  for  two  centuries  against  the  Papacy ;  as  the 
attempt  of  Brooks  to  murder  Sumner  united  the  free 
States  against  slavery,  so  this  crime  will  unite  the  whole 
North  to  make  thorough  work  with  the  rebellion,  and 
put  it  down  where  it  can  never  stir  itself  again. 

The  word  "  assassin,"  it  is  said,  was  introduced  into 
Europe  by  the  crusaders,  and  took  its  name  from  that 
mountain  chief  whose  followers  devoted  themselves  to 
murder  any  of  his  foes.  He  was  named  Ha-shish-in : 
so  named  from  hashish,  the  intoxicating  herb,  which 
they  took  to  give  themselves  the  energy  of  madness. 
Assassins  are  always  madmen,  —  they  destroy  the  cause 
they  mean  to  help. 

To-day,  then,  amid  our  grief  and  tears,  let  us  not  lose 
that  trust  in  Providence  which  the  past  four  years  have 
been  teaching  to  this  nation,  —  and  which  every  Good 
Friday  and  Easter  Sunday,  during  eighteen  centuries, 
have  been  teaching  to  mankind. 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  103 

"  Bear  him,  brothers,  to  his  grave  ; 
Over  one  more  true  and  brave 

Ne'er  shall  prairie  grasses  weep 
In  the  ages  yet  to  come, 
When  the  millions  in  our  room, 

What  we  sow  in  tears,  shall  reap. 

"  One  more  look  of  that  dead  face, 
Of  his  murder's  ghastly  trace  ! 

One  more  kiss,  O  widowed  one  ! 
Lay  your  left  hands  on  his  brow, 
Lift  your  right  hands  up,  and  vow 
That  his  work  shall  yet  be  done. 

"  Patience,  friends  !     The  eye  of  God 
Every  path  by  murder  trod 

Watches,  lidless,  day  and  night ; 
And  the  dead  man  in  his  shroud, 
And  his  children  weeping  loud, 

And  our  hearts,  are  in  his  sight. 

«  We,  in  suffering,  —  they,  in  crime, 
Wait  the  just  award  of  time, 

Wait  the  vengeance  that  is  due ; 
Not  in  vain  a  heart  shall  break, 
Not  a  tear  for  Freedom's  sake 

Fall  unheeded :  God  is  true. 

"  Lay  the  earth  upon  his  breast, 
Lay  our  slain  one  down  to  rest, 

Lay  him  down  in  hope  and  faith. 
And  above  the  broken  sod, 
Once  again  to  Freedom's  God 

Pledge  ourselves  for  life  or  death." 


104  SERMONS   ON   THE 


NOTE. 

The  following  extract  from  a  sermon  preached  by  the  writer, 
two  days  before,  gives  a  further  explanation  of  the  points  touched 
on  our  page : — 

No  doubt  much  remains  to  be  done.  The  gravest  questions 
rise  before  us.  There  loom  up  now  the  questions,  "  what  shall 
be  done  with  the  rebels  ?  Shall  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  be 
punished,  and  how  ?  What  shall  be  done  with  the  conquered 
States  ?  How  shall  they  be  governed  ;  by  military  or  civil  power  ? 

In  answering  these  questions  it  is  evident,  that,  first  of  all,  we 
need  guarantees  that  the  substantial  results  of  the  war  shall  not 
be  lost — that  the  cure  of  the  South  shall  be  radical — that  there 
shall  be  no  more  treasons,  no  more  rebellions.  Any  leniency 
that  overlooks  this  necessity  is  not  moderation,  is  not  generosity 
— it  is  folly,  cruelty,  and  crime.  We  may  forgive ;  but  we 
have  no  right  so  to  forgive  as  to  leave  the  old  conspirators  with 
power  to  conspire  again. 

What  guarantees,  then,  do  we  need  ?  Plainly,  the  first  is  the 
utter  abolition  and  destruction  of  slavery  in  the  South.  We 
must  not  have  it  in  any  form  or  shape.  We  must  not  allow  it 
to  remain  as  apprenticeship,  or  as  serfdom,  or  as  pupilage.  But 
can  this  be  done  if  we  give  back  the  power  over  the  Southern 
States  into  the  hands  of  the  old  disloyal  leaders,  now  made  ten 
times  as  bitter  as  before  their  defeat  ?  I  see  by  the  prints  that 
distinguished  citizens  of  Virginia  are  on  their  way  to  Washing 
ton  to  arrange  terms  for  the  reconstruction  and  re-admission  of 
Virginia  into  the  Union.  What  do  we  want  of  distinguished 
citizens  of  Virginia  ?  We  want  them  all  to  keep  out  of  the 
way.  We  are  to  deal  now  with  the  real  people  of  the 
South,  colored  and  white,  not  with  the  old  slaveholding  aristo 
cracy.  We  do  not  want  any  Hon.  Mr.  Hunters  or  Breckinridges ; 
no  Governor  Wise,  no  Governor  Foote,  to  arrange  terms  with. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  question  of  punishment  may  be  en 
tirely  set  aside.  We  do  not  wish  to  punish  any  one.  "  Ven 
geance  is  mine,  I  will  repay,  saith  the  Lord."  They  will  be 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  105 

punished  enough,  no  doubt  of  that.  If  defeat,  disgrace,  and 
utter  ruin  are  punishments,  if  contempt  at  home  and  neglect 
abroad  are  punishments,  if  to  have  shown  a  want  of  statesman 
ship  and  ignorance  of  history,  to  have  destroyed  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  these  States  is  punishment,  they  have  it.  We 
have,  no  doubt,  a  right  to  punish  them  to  any  extent.  The 
crimes  of  rebellion,  treason,  and  waging  civil  war  without  a 
cause,  are  the  blackest  which  can  be  committed  by  man.  To 
lose  life,  property,  and  all,  is  not  too  severe  a  punishment.  But 
what  we  wish  is  not  to  punish  them,  but  to  protect  ourselves. 
And  the  most  moderate  punishment  which  is  adequate  is  the 
best,  because  it  is  the  most  certain  to  be  inflicted.  And  there 
fore  I  say,  that,  in  my  opinion,  what  we  want  is  to  keep  all  the 
old  rebel  leaders,  and  old  slaveholding  aristocracy  out  of  the 
way,  until  the  States  of  the  South  can  be  re-organized  on  the 
basis  of  freedom.  We  want  to  keep  them  from  having  anything 
to  do  with  the  government  or  control  of  the  South  until  every 
Southern  State  is  as  loyal  as  Massachusetts.  Now,  every  emi 
nent  Southern  man  is  liable  to  be  tried,  convicted,  and  put  to 
death  for  treason  under  the  law  of  1790.  It  is  true  that  he 
can  only  be  tried  within  the  State  where  the  act  of  treason 
was  committed.  But  when  Lee  invaded  Pennsylvania,  he  com 
mitted  treason  there,  and  so  did  the  whole  rebel  government,  for 
in  treason  all  are  principals  —  and  the  purpose  of  overthrowing 
the  government  of  the  United  States  by  arms  is  a  treasonable 
purpose  —  and  every  one  who  deliberately  aids  in  any  way  that 
purpose,  even  by  furnishing  supplies,  is  held  by  the  Courts  to 
be  a  principal. 

The  punishment  of  death  for  treason  is  therefore  hanging  to 
day  over  the  head  of  every  man  concerned  in  the  rebellion. 
They  may  be  very  grateful  if  allowed  to  escape  by  exile,  confis 
cation,  and  disqualification.  But  looking,  not  at  vengeance  or 
punishment,  but  simply  at  self  protection,  it  is  my  opinion  that 
we  might  agree  to  waive  the  trial  for  treason,  and  substitute  for 
it  these  penalties  :  1st.  In  the  case  of  Jefferson  Davis,  and  his 
government,  and. all  the  chief  conspirators,  we  might  substitute 


106  SERMONS. 

for  death,  exile  for  a  term  of  years,  —  say  ten  years.  This  would 
be  so  moderate  a  punishment  that  it  would  pretty  certainly  be 
carried  out.  2d.  Then  for  those  who  have  left  the  service  of 
the  United  States  to  fight  against  it,  and  for  the  civil  officers  of 
the  rebel  States  let  the  punishment  be  disqualification  for  any 
office,  and  inability  to  vote  during  ten  years.  So  fast  do  things 
move  in  this  country,  that  in  ten  years,  when  the  exiles  return, 
they  will  find  no  opening  left  for  them,  all  their  influence  gone, 
others  in  their  places,  the  whole  machinery  of  state  re-organized, 
and  they  all  sent  into  obscurity  and  oblivion.  3d.  Let  all  those 
who  have  committed  specific  crimes,  such  as  murdering  citizens, 
starving  to  death  our  prisoners,  and  killing  colored  persons  in 
cold  blood,  be  tried  and  punished  for  those  crimes  under  the 
laws.  4th.  Let  all  the  common  people  who  have  been  forced 
and  cheated  into  rebellion  be  pardoned  on  taking  the  oath  of 
allegiance  and  keeping  it.  5th.  Let  no  rebel  State  be  re-admit 
ted  into  the  Union  till  its  Legislature  has  passed  the  Constitu 
tional  amendment  abolishing  slavery  in  the  United  States. 

This  is  my  plan  for  reconstruction.  Let  the  military  govern 
ment  of  the  U.  S.  be  continued  over  the  States,  and  let  garrisons 
of  colored  troops  be  kept  in  all  the  large  towns.  Let  no  State 
be  re-admitted  till  a  convention  of  the  people  has  met,  revising 
its  Constitution  and  abolishing  slavery,  and  till  its  Legislature 
has  passed  the  Constitutional  amendment.  Let  the  Federal 
Courts  for  the  District  of  Pennsylvania  find  indictments  for 
treason  against  every  member  of  the  rebel  government,  rebel 
Congress,  and  every  head' officer  in  the  rebel  army.  Let  the 
Federal  Courts  in  Ohio,  Maryland,  and  Missouri,  do  the  same. 
Then  let  Congress  be  called  together,  and  modify  the  law,  substi 
tuting  exile  for  a  term  of  years,  and  disqualification  for  office, 
under  certain  conditions.  So  that  by  accepting  and  submitting 
to  the  lesser  punishment,  they  may  escape  the  greater. 


REV.  GEORGE  H.  HEP  WORTH. 


MATTHEW    IX:  15. 


"CAN  THE  CHILDREN  OF  THE  BRIDE-CHAMBER  MOURN  AS  LONG 
AS  THE  BRIDEGROOM  is  WITH  THEM  ?  BUT  THE  DAYS  WILL  COMB 
WHEN  THE  BRIDEGROOM  SHALL  BE  TAKEN  EROM  THEM,  AND  THEN 
SHALL  THEY  FAST." 


BRETHREN,  last  Thursday  morning  I  read  to  you  the 
first  part  of  the  verse  which  I  have  chosen  for  my  text. 
It  was  a  day  appointed  for  fasting,  humiliation,  and 
prayer  ;  but  so  signal  had  been  the  victories  of  the  few 
preceding  days,  that  this  people,  with  one  accord,  united 
their  voices  in  a  great  chorus  of  thanksgiving.  Little 
dreamed  we  then,  that  so  soon  the  latter  clause  of  my 
text  would  call  this  mourning  nation  to  the  saddest  duty 
of  its  life. 

Who  can  measure  the  great  grief  of  this  people  ?  The 
blow  came  so  unexpectedly,  that  we  hardly  yet  know 
how  to  express  our  feelings  in  fitting  words.  Each  man 
weeps  for  a  friend  in  the  loss  of  this  our  Foremost  Amer 
ican  Citizen.  When  the  dreadful  tidings  first  flashed 
upon  our  hearts,  it  seemed  too  appalling  to  be  credible. 
We  struggled  against  it.  The  wires  have  played  us 
10  (109) 


110  SERMONS   ON  THE 

false,  we  said,  and  we  almost  grew  indignant  with  the 
tamed  lightning  which  but  a  few  hours  before  had 
thrown  the  whole  North  into  such  a  bewilderment  of 
joy  as  it  told  us  the  story  of  the  fall  of  Richmond,  and 
which  now  changed  our  joy  into  the  very  bewilderment 
of  woe  as  it  wrote  upon  the  bulletin,  "  The  President  is 
dead  !  "  We  did  not  know  how  much  we  loved  that 
good  man,  nor  how  much  confidence  we  had  reposed  in 
him,  until  the  fearful  certainty  of  our  loss  assured  us. 
Was  ever  public  officer  so  sincerely  mourned  before  ? 
Every  home  of  the  North  will  drop  its  tear  of  genuine 
sorrow  upon  his  grave,  for  mothers  sent  their  boys  to  do 
the  dreadful  work  of  war  all  the  more  willingly  because 
our  commander-in-chief  was  so  prudent,  careful,  and 
thoughtful ;  every  hamlet  will  learn  the  lesson  of  the 
hour  from  its  draped  pulpit  when  the  preacher  shall  tell 
how  fell  the  unsullied  patriot  from  the  affections  of  the 
whole  people  into  the  bosom  of  immortal  life  ;  every 
city,  from  where  the  Atlantic  wave  moans  its  sorrow  to 
the  rising  sun  to  where  the  Pacific  sighs  out  its  grief  to 
the  sinking  orb,  testifies  its  respect  and  love  for  the 
great  man,  by  those  emblems  which  sadly  decorate 
every  public  building,  if  not  every  private  residence, 
and  which  always  tell  us  that  the  people's  heart  is 
heavy. 

Brethren,  it  is  not  merely  a  brave  warrior  whom 
America  mourns.  No  battle  chieftain,  however  great 
his  exploits  in  the  field  of  danger  and  o£  conquest, 
could  ever  rouse  such  love  as  this  we  bear  to  Abraham 
Lincoln.  It  is  not  merely  the  clearness  and  sagacity  of 
his  mind  that  most  we  miss.  No  philosopher,  however 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  Ill 

gifted,  ever  rested  so  securely  in  the  affections  of  the 
whole  community.  No  :  these  tears  are  shed  for  one, 
who,  standing  on  an  eminence  so  high  that  few  would 
not  be  made  dizzy  by  it,  walked  humbly,  honestly, 
and  faithfully,  doing  the  greatest  work  of  many  a  cen 
tury,  as  a  servant  of  the  people  and  a  servant  of  God. 
We  felt  that  the  Republic  was  safe  while  he  stood  at 
its  head.  In  those  seasons  of  intense  public  excitement 
when  great  and  important  questions  were  to  be  decided, 
—  questions  affecting  our  welfare  in  the  distant  future, 
and  our  relations  to  foreign  powers,  —  he  was  the  calmest 
man  in  the  country ;  and  many  and  many  a  time,  when 
we  have  rebelled  against  his  judgment,  and  given  way  to 
passionate  criticism,  we  have  learned  to  regret  our  own 
heat,  and  wonder  at  his  serenity.  Ah  !  where  shall  we 
not  miss  him  ?  His  influence  was  potent  within  the 
halls  of  Congress,  shaping  the  legislation  which  is  to 
affect  the  country  when  the  glad  morrow  of  peace 
comes  ;  it  was  felt  in  all  the  ramifications  of  our 
foreign  and  domestic  policy,  tempering  all  decrees  by 
a  statesmanship  not  more  remarkable  for  its  sagacity 
than  for  its  kind  consideration  of  all  parties  ;  and  it 
will  be  felt  by  every  soldier  in  the  field  in  whose  heart 
the  destinies  of  his  native  land  and  the  name  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln  have  been  so  intimately  interwoven. 

In  1809,  in  a  little  village  in  Kentucky,  beneath  the 
thatched  roof  of  a  poor  man's  cottage,  was  born  a  child, 
whose  prospects  for  the  future  seemed  very  limited. 
He  received  from  his  parents  nothing  but  poverty  and  a 
good  name.  His  childhood  was  in  no  degree  remarkable. 
There  were 'no  foreshadowings  of  the  greatness  to  be 


112  SERMONS   ON   THE 

achieved,  and  very  few  of  those  traditions  of  wonderful 
precocity,  which,  in  some  mysterious  way,  cluster  ahout 
every  eminent  name.  His  library  consisted  of  a  well- 
thumbed  Bible,  and  his  fortune  of  an  empty  purse. 
He  spent  the  first  thirty  years  of  his  life  upon  that 
monotonous  plane  on  which  every  poor  farmer's  boy 
lives.  He  spent  his  days  in  driving  the  team  afield,  in 
caring  for  the  little  flock  as  it  wound  slowly  o'er  the  lea, 
and  in  the  common  drudgery  which  marks  the  lowly 
position  he  occupied. 

When  he  was  on  the  threshold  of  middle  life,  a 
resident  of  a  village  in  Illinois,  he  was  intrusted  with 
some  slight  responsibility  by  his  fellow-citizens.  He 
was  regarded  with  kindness  because  he  had  been  some 
thing  of  a  traveller,  and  an  observer  of  men  and  things  — 
having  made  a  voyage  down  the  lordly  Mississippi  —  and 
because  he  had  given  his  services  to  the  Government  in 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  shown  no  lack  of  courage,  but 
rather  a  quiet  persistency  and  fearlessness  which  added 
to  the  lustre  of  the  shoulder-straps  which  made  him  a 
captain.  Having  served  his  constituents  faithfully  in  a 
minor  position,  he  began  that  slow  and  toilsome  journey 
of  promotion,  which  is  marked  at  every  step  by  honesty 
of  purpose;  and  which  ended,  when,  obedient  to  the  A\  ill 
of  the  North,  he  assumed  the  position  of  President  of  the 
United  States. 

Never  have  I  been  more  proud  of  my  country  than 
when,  gazing  upon  the  lowly  spot  on  which  he  was 
born,  and  the  straitened  circumstances  of  his  youth, 
and  then  upward  to  the  proud  position  he  won  for 
himself,  I  remembered  that  in  America  we  have  no  royal 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  113 

circle  from  whose  narrow  limits  the  rulers  of  the  kingdom 
are  chosen,  while  the  gaping  multitude  look  on  in  open- 
mouthed  wonder ;  but  that  every  boy  on  the  continent 
has  royal  blood  in  his  veins,  and,  if  he  but  will  it,  he 
shall  rise,  forgetful  of  his  humble  origin, — nay,  nay, 
forgive  me,  proud  of  his  humble  origin,  —  to  the  mo*t 
responsible  positions  in  the  land.  Happy  country,  which 
sees  the  brilliant  light  of  promise  and  of  hope  in  the  eye 
of  every  boy  !  Blessed  institutions,  which  instead  of 
veneering  the  top  of  society,  sends  the  school-book  and 
the  prayer  book  to  the  lowliest,  and  electrifies  the  great 
body  of  the  people  with  an  honorable  ambition  ! 

If  a  stranger  were  to  offer  his  criticism  upon  Mr.  Lin 
coln,  I  think  the  first  characteristic  of  which  he  would 
speak  would  be  the  extreme  and  charming  Simplicity  of 
the  man.  This  is  so  marked  a  peculiarity,  that  no  one 
can  have  failed  to  notice  it.  It  is  to  be  observed  not 
only  in  his  daily  talk,  and  in  his  always  courteous 
bearing,  but  also  in  his  public  speeches,  and  in  those 
documents,  some  of  which  are  to  become  a  part  of  our 
national  literature.  He  is  the  most  truly  Republican 
President  we  have  ever  had.  Occupying  a  position  ae 
important  and  as  influential  as  that  of  the  Emperor  of 
France,  he  carried  to  the  White  House  the  rigid  sim 
plicity  of  his  Illinois  home  ;  and  in  his  endeavor  to  do 
the  work,  —  the  arduous  work  of  the  hour,  —  he  forgot 
to  put  on  any  of  the  trappings  or  pomp  of  royalty. 

So  noticeable  was  this  peculiarity,  that  many  of  us 

regretted  what  we  called  a  certain  want  of  refinement. 

We  would  have  had  him  keep  in  remembrance  that  he 

was  President  of  the  United  States  ;  but  he  could  never 

10* 


114  SERMONS   ON   THE 

ignore  the  fact,  that  he  was  simply  Abraham  Lincoln. 
To  say  what  he  meant,  was  his  ambition  ;  and  to  mean 
what  he  said,  was  a  matter  of  honor.  Perhaps  he  did 
not  always  indulge  in  court  language  ;  perhaps  he  was 
not  as  graceful  as  some  lesser  men  have  been ;  but  he 
always  acted  the  wise,  prudent,  and  manly  part.  He 
claims  our  forbearance  for  telling  an  apt  story;  for  wit 
and  sarcasm,  which  sometimes  seem  out  of  place ;  but 
he  has  no  need  to  seek  our  forgiveness  for  connivance 
against  the  honor  of  the  Republic.  Grace  of  bearing  is 
a  good  thing  ;  but  unswerving  integrity  is  sublime,  even 
when  it  is  awkward.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  glad  that 
we  have  at  last  had  a  President  who  scorned  to  use  the 
privileges  of  his  position  for  the  study  of  the  rules  of 
politeness ;  and  who,  a  yeoman,  would  not  ape  the 
courts  of  Europe,  but  set  himself  at  work  to  do  a  real 
service  for  his  country,  at  a  time  when  she  had  been 
robbed  by  so-called  gentlemen  of  the  first  families,  and 
must  be  set  right,  if  at  all,  by  the  great  mass  of  the 
common  people  and  their  representative. 

If  you  should  look  this  broad  continent  over  to  find  a 
man  who  came  from  the  people,  who  knew  their  wants 
and  their  troubles  by  experience ;  who  had  been  edu 
cated  only  in  the  schools  of  the  people ;  who  possessed 
their  confidence ;  who  was  proud  of  his  ability  to  do 
them  good ;  who  had  been  led  neither  by  scholarship 
nor  ambition  to  a  forgetfulness  of  their  exact  condition : 
in  other  words,  if  you  should  search  this  nation  through 
to  find  a  man  who  should  be  a  true  type  of  the  America 
of  to-day,  you  could  not  discover  one  so  fit  for  the  pur 
pose  as  Abraham  Lincoln.  In  his  earnestness  and  in 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  115 

his  wit ;  in  his  persistency  and  in  his  good  humor ;  in 
all  the  angles  of  mind,  character,  and  life,  he  was  the 
best  man  of  this  generation  to  show  the  strength  and 
the  peculiarities  of  the  American. 

He  was  pure-minded,  seeking  not  for  himself  with 
unhallowed  ambition  of  conquest,  but  rather  for  his 
country,  with  the  holy  ambition  of  the  patriot.  He  was 
pure-hearted,  governed  in  all  his  dealings  by  a  pervading 
sense  of  moral  responsibility.  He  was  unsuspicious, — 
alas,  alas,  brethren,  he  was  too  unsuspicious !  he  believed 
too  much  in  the  honor  of  those  around  him,  and  for  this 
reason  he  sleeps  upon  his  bier,  while  a  nation  bends  in 
tears  because  his  slumber  knows  no  waking. 

Another  marked  characteristic  of  the  man  was  his 
Religious  Faith,  his  often  avowed  belief  that  this  people 
are  in  the  especial  keeping  of  Providence,  and  that  it  was 
his  duty  as  President  to  await  the  expressed  will  of  God, 
and  then  to  act.  He  was  not  of  that  company  of  heroes 
who  win  the  sympathy  of  many  by  electing  themselves 
men  of  destiny ;  but  he  firmly  believed  that  this  nation  is 
a  nation  of  destiny,  and  was  modest  enough,  aye,  humble 
enough  to  forget  himself  in  his  honest  endeavor  to  obey 
the  people's  will.  I  delight  to  linger  on  this  part  of  our 
great  leader's  character;  for  our  public  men  have  so  often 
been  mere  politicians,  winning  their  way  to  position  by 
those  various  arts  which  are  recognized  as  legitimate  in 
the  circles  where  they  are  used,  but  hardly  looked  upon 
with  favor  by  an  impartial  religion,  that  it  is  exceedingly 
refreshing  to  know  that  in  the  time  of  our  country's  dire 
necessity  the  highest  officer  of  the  nation  was  the 
humblest  of  us  all,  and  sought  to  know  the  will  of  God 


316  SERMONS   ON    THE 

before  he  listened  to  the  will  of  man.  I  verily  believe 
that  the  religious  view  of  the  war,  —  and  this  seems  to 
me  to  be  the  sublimest  fact  of  the  war,  —  which  has 
pervaded  every  class  in  the  community,  and  shown  itself 
in  the  subdued  manner  in  which,  for  the  last  two  years, 
we  have  received  the  tidings  of  every  great  victory,  is 
greatly  due  to  the  position  assumed  by  Mr.  Lincoln. 
How  easily  he  could  Lave  stirred  this  people  to  acts  of 
revenge,  —  acts  which  we  might  never  cease  to  regret, 
—  had  he  but  issued  a  series  of  documents  filled  with 
revolutionary  rhetoric.  But  instead  of  this,  America 
has  often  been  quieted  in  the  hour  of  intensest  excite 
ment  by  the  moral  weight  of  our  President's  character 
and  words. 

I  do  not  speak  thus  as  one  who  blindly  praises  the 
dead.  I  have  no  desire  to  lift  Mr.  Lincoln  into  the 
upper  region  of  a  faultless  manhood.  I  have  no  wish  to 
forget  the  fact  that  he  had  faults, —  ay,  even  grave 
faults,  —  in  speaking  of  his  virtues.  At  a  more  appro 
priate  time,  I  may  give  you  an  estimate  of  his  relation 
to,  and  influence  upon,  the  age  ;  but  now  our  sorrow  and 
our  love  are  our  only  eloquence,  and  in  reckoning  the 
qualities  which  so  endeared  him  to  us,  we  will  not  forget 
that  the  tone  of  simple  trust  in  God,  which  gave  depth 
and  beauty  to  nearly  all  his  public  documents,  and  which 
in  private  intercourse  made  so  lasting  an  impression  upon 
those  who  were  privileged  to  take  his  hand,  did  much, 
very  much,  —  even  more  than  we  knew  at  the  time,  to 
direct  public  opinion  into  those  channels  through  which 
the  popular  feeling  and  excitement  naturally  flowed 
towards  a  religious  view  of  our  national  affairs.  And 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  117 

who  can  tell  the  benefit  of  such  a  tendency  ?  Who 
knows  how  much  of  the  moral  strength  of  this  people 
to-day  comes  from  this  fact  ? 

Many  a  time  have  delegations  from  various  organiza 
tions  gone  to  this  First  Citizen  of  America,  and  said : 
"  Mr.  Lincoln,  this  people  believe  that  you  have  been 
providentially  placed  in  this  position  for  the  salvation 
of  the  nation.  Every  village  church  in  the  land  lifts 
its  fervent  petition  in  your  behalf,  and  every  loyal 
man  feels  that  he  may  trust  you  to  vindicate  and 
establish  his  dearest  rights ; "  and  the  old  man,  in 
stead  of  drawing  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  and, 
in  courtly  fashion,  receiving  this  language  as  hom 
age  done  to  himself,  has  bowed  his  head  as  in  the 
presence  of  sublime  duties,  and  consecrated  the  memory 
of  the  interview  with  tears.  Brethren,  these  things  are 
not  often  written  in  the  biography  of  great  men. 

One  other  characteristic  of  which  I  must  not  fail  to 
speak  Mras  his  Firmness.  Justice  has  never  been  done 
to  Mr.  Lincoln  in  this  respect.  He  was  not  one  of  those 
boisterous  men  who  herald  the  fact  that  they  have  strong 
wills,  and  who  seem  to  act  as  though  an  unbending  will 
was  the  chief  element  of  heroism.  He  had  his  own  way 
very  quietly,  yet  he  generally  had  his  own  way,.  He 
knew  the  value  of  advice  when  given  by  his  peers,  and 
was  always  courteous  and  deferential  while  it  was  being 
bestowed.  But  he  held  it  in  about  the  same  estimation 
in  which  others  of  the  world's  best  men  have  regarded 
it,  —  a  something  which  it  is  very  necessary  to  receive, 
but  not  always  necessary  to  heed. 

It  is  rather  a  peculiar  fact  in  the  history  of  his  admin- 


118  SERMONS   ON    THE 

istration,  that  while  so  many  have  blamed  him  for  lag 
ging  behind  the  people,  nearly  all  have  thrown  the  odium 
of  such  sloth  upon  him  personally,  as  though  it  were 
the  natural  tendency  of  his  character,  and  not  the  result 
of  any  outside  influence.  The  future  historian  will  give 
him  credit  for  a  degree  of  determination  in  the  estab 
lishment  and  execution  of  his  public  policy  wrhich  may 
surprise  us  all.  He  made  but  little  noise,  yet  he  is  more 
responsible  for  the  acts  of  his  administration  than  any 
President  we  have  had  for  many  a  year. 

And  now  he  is  gone.  Alas  !  a  good  man  and  a  true 
man  has  been  taken  away.  Steadily  our  love  and  respect 
for  him  has  increased  since  1860.  He  early  won,  and 
has  steadfastly  kept  our  confidence  in  the  progress  of 
this  tremendous  struggle ;  and  now  we  may  say,  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  no  man  ever  wielded  such 
power,  and  made  so  few  enemies.  I  repeat  it,  no  man 
ever  wielded  such  power  during  four  successive  years  of 
Hood  and  sacrifice,  of  tears  and  death,  and  made  so  few 
enemies. 

"He  was  a  man,  take  him  for  all  in  all, 
We  shall  not  look  upon  his  like  again." 

And  now  he  is  gone  :  gone  when  we  seemed  to  need 
him  most,  and  when  we  loved  him  best :  gone  from  a 
good  life  to  a  better ;  from  the  soldier's  home  on  earth 
to  the  soldier's  home  in  heaven ;  from  his  triumphs  to 
his  reward :  gone  to  the  blessed  company  of  great  men, 
who,  in  times  past,  have  led  tho  people  on  from  sin  to 
liberty,  and  laid  down  their  own  lives  as  a  willing  sacri 
fice  on  the  altar  of  progress.  To-day,  while  we  mourn, 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  119 

he  sits  in  the  council-chamber  where  martyrs  and  heroes 
are  convened ;  where  are  Washington,  and  Adams,  and 
Hancock,  and  Warren ;  and  he  is  their  peer  in  the  love 
he  bore  his  country,  and  the  love  his  countrymen  bore 
to  him. 

O,  exalted  spirit !  if  you  can  spare  a  single  moment 
to  look  from  those  heavenly  realms  which  have  so  lately 
burst  upon  your  enraptured  vision  upon  our  bereaved 
homes,  you  shall  see  how  dear  was  the  place  you  held 
in  all  our  hearts.  You  have  been  the  people's  friend, 
and  they  put  the  evergreen  of  gratitude  about  your 
name.  Calmly  you  have  led  us,  wisely,  tenderly,  and 
yet  firmly,  through  four  times  twelve  months  of  woe. 
You  have  gone  with  us  into  the  valley  of  defeat, 
where  we  have  reckoned  the  fearful  cost  of  life  which 
was  marking  the  uncertain  progress  of  the  war.  You 
have  been  with  us  when  the  glad  tidings  of  victory  came, 
and  we  have  always  found  you  our  friend,  faithful  and 
true  ;  our  leader,  just  and  wise. 

You  need  no  monument  to  tell  your  worth.  These 
tears  are  better  than  the  marble  shaft.  These  grateful 
hearts,  which  will  tell  the  children  who  sleep  in  the  cra 
dle  the  wondrous  story  of  the  times  through  which  we 
have  lived,  will  not  forget  to  say  that  all  the  nation 
trusted,  and  all  the  people  loved  you.  You  shall  live  in 
the  new  America  that  is  to  be,  and  your  best  monument 
shall  be  your  Redeemed  and  Free  Country.  You  were 
with  us,  with  kindly  word  of  counsel,  when  with  one 
voice  we  cried,  "  Our  country  shall  be  one  and  indivisi 
ble,"  and  when  a  million  men,  the  flower  of  the  genera 
tion,  stood  side  by  side  to  battle  and  to  die  for  the 


120  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Union  :  you  were  with  us  when  the  voice  of  the  people 
was  heard  all  over  the  world,  saying,  "  Never  more  shall 
there  be  slave  upon  this  soil ;  hereafter  all  beneath  the 
protecting  folds  of  our  flag  shall  be  freemen ; "  and 
when  in  gratitude  two  hundred  thousand  dusky  braves 
sprang  to  arms,  and  fought  for  the  honor  of  the  country 
that  dared  to  proclaim  that  they  were  men :  you  were 
with  us  when  the  weak  and  worn  enemy  flew  panic-" 
stricken  from  their  last  defences  ;  when  the  arch  traitor 
fled  the  avenging  hand  of  justice,  and  hid  himself  in  the 
swamps  of  the  South  and  the  depths  of  his  own  crime  ; 
and  when  the  commander-in-chief  of  organized  rebellion 
gave  up  his  blood-stained  sword  to  the  noble  chieftain 
who  was  the  representative  of  order,  union,  and  liberty, 
—  and  now  you  have  gone  !  Nay,  nay,  we  will  not 
believe  it.  You  are  still  with  us,  and  you  will  be  with 
us  unto  the  end. 

Brethren,  we  still  trust  in  God.  The  meaning  of  this 
event  we  cannot  read.  We  are  not  robbed  of  our  faith ; 
and  who  shall  dare  deny,  that  Lincoln  dead  may  yet  do 
more  for  America  and  Americans,  than  Lincoln  living? 

In  my  mind's  eye,  I  see  a  stout  and  well-built  ship, 
lying  a  wreck  upon  hidden  rocks.  Bravely  she  has 
breasted  the  storms  of  a  score  of  winters.  She  has 
battled  with  the  tornadoes  of  Indian  seas,  bending  her 
proud  masts  until  the  frenzied  wave  threw  its  furious 
spray  upon  the  highest  sail ;  she  has  confronted  Atlantic 
tempests  ;  and,  when  she  came  into  port  at  last,  was  just 
enough  defaced  to  prove  the  terrible  character  of  the 
struggles  from  which  she  had  come  in  triumph.  She 
has  brought  her  rich  cargo  of  hope  and  faith,  of  good 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  121 

laws  and  liberty ;  and,  but  yesterday,  her  cargo  safely 
landed  upon  the  wharf,  she  slipped  her  moorings  and 
playfully  unbent  her  sails  for  an  hour's  enjoyment.  But, 
alas!  there  were  rocks,  hidden  rocks,  in  the  way, — 
rocks  not  laid  down  upon  any  chart  except  the  chart  of 
Satan.  She  struck  ;  and  tears  filled  our  eyes  as  we  saw 
the  noble  vessel  that  had  done  her  duty  so  well,  lying 
there,  the  victim  of  a  mischief  that  could  not  have  been 
foreseen.  So  is  it  with  our  country  to-day. 


11 


REV.    W.   R.   NICHOLSON. 


AT  ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH. 


The  Rev.  Dr.  Nicholson  spoke  as  follows  :  — 
My  Brethren,  in  the  extraordinary  circumstances  in 
which  we  meet  together  this  morning,  I  feel  unwilling  to 
begin  our  joyous  Easter  services  without  a  brief  word 
of  introduction.  I  am  sure,  you  will  pardon  me  for  this 
one  moment's  digression  from  our  usual  course. 

Easter  is  the  synonyme  of  joy  and  triumph,  and 
Easter-day  has  come.  How  sweetly  its  blessed  light 
has  dawned  upon  us  this  morning.  And  yet  it  has 
brought  with  it  the  saddest  tidings,  —  yes,  in  an  im 
portant  sense,  the  saddest  tidings,  —  which  have  ever 
concerned  us  since  we  were  a  people.  To-day,  our 
whole  land  is  filled  with  sorrow  and  mourning  ;  not 
only  so,  but  with  the  keenest  sense  of  national  shame 
and  mortification.  It  is  a  dreadful  public  calamity,  — 
in  every  point  of  view  a  dreadful  public  calamity ;  and 
certainly  it  is  God's  call  to  us  for  a  yet  deeper  self- 
humiliation.  The  instinct  of  my  heart  would  be  to 
observe  this,  the  first  Sunday  after  so  grievous  an  afflic 
tion,  with  such  outward  expressions  of  sorrow  in  our 
public  worship  as  might  befit  a  worshipping  congrega 
tion.  Were  it  another  Sunday,  the  irrepressible  grief  of 

11*  (125) 


126  SERMONS. 

our  hearts  would  require  us  to  do  so.  But  it  is  Easter, 
—  the  Queen  Festival  amongst  all  the  glories  of  Gospel 
Truth.  Oh,  we  cannot  shove  aside  the  grandeurs,  the 
heavenly  grandeurs,  of  our  Saviour's  resurrection  !  It  is 
the  culmination  of  all  saving  truth ;  the  only  light  for 
our  darkness,  the  only  joy  for  grief,  the  only  solace  in 
our  deepest  troubles.  Were  it  the  festival  of  an  earthly 
joy,  instinctively  we  should  keep  silence ;  but  our 
Easter  joys  are  the  only  medicine,  as  well  for  our  na 
tional  wounds,  as  for  the  individual  heart. 

If  properly  looked  at,  then ;  if  these  services  are  not 
construed  as  an .  aesthetic  show,  a  mere  parade  ;  if  we 
bear  in  mind  that  it  is  God's  own  truth  which  here  con 
cerns  us  ;  surely  nothing  could  be  more  appropriate,  even 
for  so  direful  a  calamity,  than  are  these  Easter  services. 
Let  our  hearts  be  chastened ;  let  us  sink  in  self-humilia 
tion  deep  and  sincere  ;  let  us  lift  our  eyes  to  Jesus  in 
faith  strong  and  simple,  —  then,  all  the  more  because  of 
our  present  national  grievance,  oh,  all  the  more,  strike 
the  very  highest  notes  of  Easter  joy  and  triumph  ! 

And  may  the  benediction  of  our  God  descend  and 
brood  over  us,  in  these  our  precious  services  ! 


REV.    WILLIAM  HAGUE 


2     SAMUEL    III:     38. 


AND  THE  KING  SAID  UNTO  HIS  SERVANTS,  KNOW  YE  NOT 
THAT  THEHE  IS  A  PllINCE,  AND  A  GREAT  MAN  FALLEN  THIS 
DAY  IN  ISRAEL? 


WE  have  come  into  our  sanctuary  to-day,  with  heavy 
hearts  and  weary  step.  "We  are  "  bowed  down  to  the 
dust"  beneath  the  weight  of  a  calamity  that  has  thrilled 
a  nation  with  anguish  too  deep  for  tears. 

We  are  all  mourners  at  one  funeral;  not  a  funeral 
that  leaves  a  vacant  place  in  any  one  of  our  households, 
nor  simply  the  funeral  of  a  father,  son,  or  brother,  of  a 
personal  friend,  champion,  or  protector,  but  of  him  who 
combined  the  interests  and  endearments  of  all  these 
relations  in  one,  and  whose  sadden  loss  a  nation  bewails 
as  inexpressible  and  irreparable. 

The  hand  of  the  assassin  that  smote  down  our  Presi 
dent  achieved  its  fiendish  aim,  and  in  that  mortal  stroke 
inflicted  a  pang  that  throbs  in  the  hearts  of  more  than 
twenty  millions  ;  and  though  these  all  beat  in  unison, 
yet  as  the  Prophet  Zachariah  said  of  Judea  in  a  time  of 
trouble,  "  The  land  mourneth,  every  family  apart." 

(129) 


130  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Every  one  bemoans  the  affliction  as  a  sorrow  of  his 
own. 

There  is  sorrow  in  the  crowded  streets ;  sorrow  in  the 
marts  of  trade  ;  sorrow  in  the  council-rooms  of  States, 
in  the  school-rooms  of  children  and  youth,  and  at  every 
hearthstone  of  the  Commonwealth  :  but  more  than  that, 
there  is  sorrow  in  every  solitude,  even  in  the  closet  of 
prayer,  "the  secret  place"  where  emotion  is  quickened 
by  no  sympathy  except  sympathy  with  God,  who  knoweth 
the  heart's  bitterness  better  than  it  knows  its  own. 

Never,  we  believe,  since  the  death  of  Washington, 
did  the  countenance  of  every  man,  every  woman,  and 
every  child,  over  the  broad  area  of  the  republic,  express 
a  sentiment  of  grief  so  profound  and  keen  as  that  which 
greets  us  now,  whithersoever  we  may  turn. 

We  have  heard  of  monarchs  honored  as  benefactors,  of 
kings  loved  as  fathers  ;  but  it  is  only  in  a  free  republic 
that  you  can  ever  see  such  signs  of  love  and  devotion  as 
those  which  now  glisten  in  the  eyes,  or  quiver  in  the 
tones  of  stalwart  men,  of  war-worn  soldiers,  of  mirthful 
youth,  of  venerable  matrons  ;  or  such  as  rise  to  heaven 
in  the  prayers  of  the  vast  masses  who  kneel  at  their 
domestic  altars  in  the  mansions  of  merchant-princes,  in 
the  tenant-houses  of  poor  laborers  who  differ  from  each 
other  as  to  color  and  complexion,  in  the  rough  cabins  of 
backwoodsmen,  and  in  the  huts  of  emancipated  slaves. 

All  these,  spread  abroad  over  the  breadth  of  a  conti 
nent,  make  it  one  expanded  "  house  of  mourning,"  where 
one  bereaved  family  are  prostrate  in  the  expression  of 
a  common  woe ;  unto  all  these  voices  the  ear  of  God  is 
open,  and  over  all  these  He  watches  with  sympathetic 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  131 

care,  waiting  to  fulfil  in  the  experiences  of  this  afflicted, 
storm- tossed  nation  that  benign  promise  which  gleamed 
of  old  through  the  reft  cloud  of  many  a  portentous 
night  in  the  history  of  Israel,  "  Call  upon  me  in  the  day 
of  trouble ;  I  will  deliver  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify 
me." 

That  word  is  as  true  to-day,  and  as  apposite  to  our 
condition  as  if  an  angel  were  uttering  it  for  the  first  time 
in  the  ears  of  the  people,  as  a  fresh  message  from  the 
throne  of  the  Eternal  King.  We  are  still  in  the  keeping 
of  our  fathers'  God,  to  whom,  in  the  fiery  trials  of  the 
revolutionary  era,  Washington  was  wont  to  pray  in 
forest  solitudes.  As  the  ancient  Psalmist  said,  we  say, 
"  He  that  keepeth  us  shall  neither  slumber  nor  sleep." 
The  assassin's  dagger  cannot  reach  Him.  And  though 
the  deadly  stroke  aimed  at  our  chief  ruler  hath  pierced 
the  nation's  heart,  He  liveth  to  parry  the  force  of  the 
blow,  to  heal  the  wound,  to  bring  good  out  of  evil, 
strength  out  of  weakness,  life  from  death,  to  make  the 
wrath  of  man  to  praise  Him,  and  its  remainder  tore- 
strain. 

All  the  events  of  our  history,  from  the  beginning  even 
until  now,  tally  with  the  hopes  which  these  promises 
inspire.  As  a  faithful  woman  in  Israel  said  to  her  des 
ponding  husband  when  he  trembled  before  the  manifes 
tation  of  the  Divine  Majesty,  "  If  the  Lord  had  been 
pleased  to  kill  us,  He  would  not  have  received  such 
offerings  at  our  hands,  nor  would  He  have  showed  us 
such  things  as  these." 

Think  of  it.  Can  we,  as  a  people,  in  this  hour  of 
trial,  recall  to  memory  the  last  four  years  of  devastating 


132  SERMONS   ON   THE 

war,  the  superhuman  malice  of  cunning  foes  acting  in 
concert  with  the  educated  craft  and  wealth  of  the  aristo 
cratic  powers  of  Europe,  the  era  of  successful  treachery 
and  intrigue,  of  victories  over  us  on  blood)'  battle-fields, 
the  taunts  of  triumph  like  those  of  old  Philistia's  daugh 
ters  in  Oath  and  Askelon,  rehearsed  and  wafted  back 
from  beyond  the  sea,  and  all  the  terrible  scenes  of 
national  agony  through  which  we  have  passed,  along  the 
verge  of  an  unfathomable  abyss,  under  the  chosen  lead 
ership  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  without  being  assured  to 
the  utmost  depth  of  our  heart's  capacity  of  grateful 
feeling,  that  God  raised  him  up,  "  made  him  great," 
and  then,  at  the  set  moment,  GAVE  him  to  us  as  an  angel 
of  deliverance,  in  order  to  work  out  for  us  that  "  great 
salvation  "  which  has  just  now  become  the  most  amaz 
ing  and  hopeful  spectacle  of  the  nineteenth  century  in 
the  sight  of  the  whole  civilized  world  ? 

No,  never  :  these  years  are  "  years  of  his  right  hand," 
the  remembrance  of  which  has  called  forth  over  the  rice- 
fields  and  cotton-fields  of  the  emancipated  South,  and  in 
the  open  streets  and  marts  of  Boston  and  New  York 
alike,  songs  of  praise  that  rolled  in  all  the  lyrical  majes 
ty  of  "  Old  Hundred,"  and  sounded  forth  the  joy  of 
millions  as  in  the  deep  thunder  tones  of  ocean  waves. 

These  grand  anthems,  God  himself  extemporized  for 
us  ;  He  made  the  "  logic  of  events  "  vocal  with  prophe 
cies  of  our  glorious  future,  as  sure  to  us  as  any  that  ever 
came  from  Isaiah's  lips,  that  were  touched  by  fire  from 
Heaven ;  and  shall  we  now,  in  this  hour  of  sudden 
gloom,  be  tempted  to  yield  for  a  moment  to  doubt  or 
fear  or  dark  forebodings,  like  those  who  adore  no  God 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  133 

but  chance  or  fate,  or  blind,  inexorable  law  ?     Oh,  no  ! 
truth,  love,  faith,  honor,  gratitude  forbid  it. 

I  know  how  hard  it  is,  at  times,  for  the  stricken 
heart,  under  the  shock  of  terrible  and  scathing  bereave 
ment,  to  school  itself  (I  will  not  say  into  submission,  or 
resignation,  for  these  are,  comparatively,  tame  words) 
into  joyous,  hopeful,  filial  trust. 

I  know  what  extraordinary  and  mighty  reasons  there 
are  to  tempt  us,  in  spite  of  all  the  signs  of  wise  design 
and  overruling  Providence  in  the  past,  to  treat  this 
event  as  being  too  ill-timed  to  furnish  occasion  for  the 
exercise  of  these  Christian  graces,  or  to  be  regarded  as 
anything  else  than  a  bad  chance-stroke,  full  of  dis 
astrous  portent  to  the  fortunes  of  our  country. 

I  know  how  prone  are  the  shocked  sensibilities  of 
some  to  arouse  the  fear  of  strange  evils  that  throw  their 
shadows  before,  (as  a  patriotic  woman  and  mother 
expressed  it  yesterday,)  of  a  Reign  of  Terror  like  that 
which  racked  revolutionary  France  in  the  days  of  Robes 
pierre. 

I  know  what  a  dreadful  depression  of  spirit  is  likely 
to  be  produced  by  the  contrast  between  the  tone  of  the 
last  public  service  in  this  sanctuary  and  the  tone  of  the 
present ;  between  the  glowing  scene  of  Thursday,  when 
a  Fast  was  turned  into  a  Festival  by  that  last  triumph 
of  our  arms,  which  seemed  like  a  new  proclamation 
from  the  Supreme  Governor  of  the  world,  and  the  more 
than  funereal  gloom  that  overcasts  our  lurid  sky  at  this 
hour,  and  turns  the  greatest  Festival  of  Christendom 
into  a  Fast,  to  the  sickened  heart  of  Christian  patriot 
ism.  I  know  this,  and  I  feel  the  oppressiveness  of  the 
murky  air  laden  with  rumors  of  coming  trouble. 
12 


134  SERMONS   ON  THE 

In  view  of  all  these  things  of  sad  significance  I  know 
how  hard  it  is  for  some  to  interpret  an  event,  that  seems 
so  mysteriously  ill-timed,  into  harmony  with  a  cheerful, 
hopeful  view  of  those  kind  designs  and  wise  forecastings 
of  Divine  Providence  that  insure  our  national  welfare, 
and  our  progress  in  a  bright  national  career  of  honor, 
glory,  strength,  freedom,  and  prosperity. 

Nevertheless,  I  know  at  the  same  time  what  are  the 
rocky  grounds  of  our  trust,  and  adopt  the  words  of  a 
French  statesman,  explanatory  of  his  own  conduct,  amid 
the  moral  earthquake  in  his  own  country  in  1848  :  "  I 
believe  in  God  !  " 

All  these  portents  of  evil  are  but  as  foil  to  the 
diamond. 

I  welcome  the  hope  with  which  Moses  inspired  Israel 
when  he  said  "  God  made  him  to  suck  honey  out  of  the 
rock,  and  oil  out  of  the  flint." 

I  remember  the  machinations  of  assassins  against  the 
life  of  the  President  that  were  strangely  baffled  in  those 
times  when  success  would  have  been  fatal,  and  turned  the 
trembling  scale  of  national  destiny  in  favor  of  armed  trea 
son  with  a  force  that  would  have  mocked  resistance  ;  when 
an  announcement  like  that  which  flashed  over  the  wires 
yesterday  would  have  been  the  signal  for  the  rallying  of 
treacherous  cabals,  not  only  in  the  capital,  but  through 
out  all  the  North,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Potomac, 
and  from  the  Great  Lakes  to  the  Mississippi. 

In  those  days  of  disaster,  despondency,  and  weakness, 
the  faith  of  the  people  in  our  President  was  our  great 
bond  of  union,  and  the  bulwark  of  our  safety  against 
the  complicated  plots  of  open  and  secret  foes.  But  now 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  135 

he  is  gone ;  and  who  fears  them  now  ?  Think  of  it : 
who  fears  them  now,  when  the  rebel  power  is  crushed, 
its  fortresses  and  cities  and  capital  captured,  its  govern 
ment  dissolved,  and  its  armies  flying  like  chaff  before  the 
storm  ? 

Surely,  I  know  the  answer  that  your  hearts  indite. 
What  a  difference  between  now  and  then !  What  a 
cheerful  light  gleams  out  from  this  comparison  of  the 
past  and  the  present,  spanning  the  dense  cloud  of  our 
sorrow  with  the  bow  of  promise,  the  sign  of  a  covenant 
of  hope,  well  ordered  in  all  things  and  sure  ! 

The  death  of  those  we  love,  honor,  and  trust,  at  the 
first  sight,  never  seems  well-timed ;  the  parting  pang  is 
ever  painful ;  — 

"  The  flesh  will  quiver  where  the  pincers  tear; 
The  blood  will  follow  where  the  knife  is  driven"  ; 

the  tear  will  gush  from  the  depths  of  nature  where 
the  cherished  ties  of  life  are  broken :  but  there  is  a  time 
of  separation  set,  and  that  time  is  adjusted  to  a  perfect 
harmony  with  those  far-reaching  purposes  of  our 
Heavenly  Father,  which,  as  Jesus  teaches  in  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  take  within  their  scope  the  fall  of  a 
sparrow  as  well  as  the  fall  of  an  empire. 

O,  it  is  a  .consoling  truth,  *"  Our  times  are  in  his 
hand  "  ; 

"  The  voice  that  rolls  the  stars  along 
Speaks  all  the  promises." 

And  yet,  in  the  sweep  of  a  great  calamity  like  this 
which  we  now  bewail,  where  the  immediate  cause  is  not 


136  SERMONS   ON   THE 

some  mighty  agency  of  nature,  but  a  mere  play  of 
human  passion,  or  a  mere  freak  of  some  perverse  human 
will,  or  some  untoward  thing  which  it  was  within  a 
man's  power  to  have  avoided,  the  troubled  mind  will 
often  stagger,  through  unbelief  in  providence,  and  lose 
sight  altogether  of  a  divine,  overruling  wisdom. 

In  the  view  of  many,  the  rough  edge  of  the  evil 
would  have  been  taken  off,  and  the  sense  of  fitness 
would  have  been  less  shocked,  if  the  President  had 
died  by  disease,  or  died  in  battle.  In  that  case,  the 
sorrowing  heart  more  readily  bows  before  the  inevitable, 
more  devoutly  acknowledges  the  majesty  of  the  Supreme 
Arbiter  of  destiny.  But  death  by  the  hand  of  an 
assassin  that  might  have  been  so  easily  arrested,  or 
death  following  a  certain  step  that  might  have  been  so 
easily  omitted,  seems  like  a  malign  agent  jarring  against 
the  order  of  the  universe,  trampling  God's  law  in  per 
verse  wantonness,  provoking  exasperation  rather  than 
submission. 

But  then  it  must  be  remembered  that  this  is  a  mere 
seeming. 

For  God's  comprehensive  purposes  are  realized  by 
the  free  actions  of  men,  and  devils  too,  as  well  as  by 
the  blind  forces  of  material  nature.  The  moral  element 
of  free  will  may  have  ample  play,  without  being  able  to 
baffle  the  divine  will  any  more  than  does  the  planet 
which  is  never  allowed  to  fly  one  hair's  breadth  from  its 
appointed  track. 

The  grandest  programmes  of  inspired  prophecy  have 
often  been  pivoted  upon  some  trifling  act  of  man  which 
might  have  been  easily  avoided.  The  conquest  of  Old 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  137 

Babylon,  the  oppressor  of  Israel,  was  predicted  by 
Isaiah  two  centuries  before  the  birth  of  the  conqueror, 
whom  God  called  by  name,  and  said  to  Cyrus,  "  I  have 
guided  thee,  though  thou  hast  not  known  me."  Not  only 
was  the  event  announced,  but  the  funeral  dirge  of  the 
empire  was  written  by  the  Hebrew  seer,  and  the  night- 
scene  of  the  overthrow  described  with  as  much  of 
graphical  minuteness  as  if  the  prophet  had  lived  to  muse 
amid  the  ruins  of  the  imperial  city.  At  the  set  time 
her  fall  shook  the  world ;  and  yet  one  obscure  man 
might  have  prevented  it.  A  single  hand  of  an  humble 
official  might  have  baffled  the  Persian  and  his  army,  if 
the  guard  at  the  brazen  gate  had  attended  to  his  duty, 
and  moved  the  bolt  to  its  place. 

So,  too,  within  the  memory  of  living  men,  the  grand 
crisis  of  European  history  turned  upon  the  action  of  a 
single  will,  —  and  that,  too,  the  will  of  a  man  whose 
name  we  should  never  have  cared  to  mention  but  for 
that  one  inexplicable  decision.  When  General  Blucher, 
with  his  Prussians,  appeared  on  the  field  of  Waterloo, 
to  join  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  and  turn  the  tide  of 
battle,  Napoleon  was  still  confident  of  victory ;  because, 
as  he  said,  "  General  Grouchy  must  be  behind  them." 
In  vain  did  he  reason  out  the  case  ;  in  vain  did  he 
watch.  "Why  does  not  Grouchy  come?"  He  might 
have  come  ;  he  had  gained  the  bridge  at  Wavre ;  the 
way  was  open  to  him ;  but  he  did  not  come.  Instead 
of  marching  forward  with  his  counterpoise  to  Blucher' s 
force,  he  decided  to  wait  for  news  from  the  field ;  and 
that  decision,  which  even  the  sagacity  of  Napoleon 
could  not  anticipate  as  being  within  the  bounds  of 
12* 


138  SERMONS  ON  THE 

probability,  gave  the  day  to  England,  and  brought 
down  the  empire  that  had  ruled  the  continent. 

All  this  is  after  the  manner  of  God  in  the  evolutions 
of  history ;  and  therefore,  let  none  of  us,  O  friends,  in 
our  melancholy  musing  upon  the  loss  which  we  mourn 
as  the  strangest  catastrophe  of  our  times,  interpret  the 
fatal  effect  of  the  assassin's  stroke  as  a  sign  that  the 
fortunes  of  our  country  are  abandoned  of  Heaven,  or 
regard  the  deadly  play  of  perverse  will  and  maddened 
passion,  in  the  removal  of  the  nation's  ruler,  as  a  sort 
of  proof  that  it  was,  in  the  view  of  right  reason,  an  ill- 
timed  event,  and  that  the  overruling  wisdom  of  God  is 
no  longer  guiding  our  affairs  to  a  happy  and  glorious 
consummation. 

Rather,  O  friends,  amid  the  sorrows  of  the  hour, 
the  stormy  excitements  of  the  public  mind,  and  the 
extraordinary  combination  of  events  racking  the  land 
like  the  vibrations  of  an  earthquake,  let  our  weakness 
grasp  the  hand  of  Omnipotence,  like  the  royal  Psalmist 
of  old,  who,  when  his  timid  advisers  said  to  him,  "Flee 
like  a  bird  to  your  mountain,  for  the  wicked  make  ready 
their  arrow  upon  the  string,  and  righteousness  amounts 
to  nothing,"  answered  them  in  those  living  words  of 
religious  trust,  "  The  Lord's  throne  is  in  the  heavens  ; 
his  eyes  try  the  children  of  men ;  he  will  rain  upon  the 
wicked,  fire  and  brimstone,  and  a  horrible  tempest :  this 
shall  be  the  portion  of  their  cup ;  the  righteous  Lord, 
loveth  righteousness,  and  his  countenance  doth  behold 
the  upright." 

It  is  to  us  a  fact  of  great  significance  that  this  nation 
has  a  history,  which  the  leading  minds  of  the  Old  World, 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  139 

in  courts,  camps,  and  universities,  are  studying  now  as 
never  before.  Hitherto  they  have  never  believed  that 
our  republican  government  had  enough  of  coherent 
strength  to  withstand  the  shocks  of  a  ^reat  rebellion. 
Its  strongest  bonds  have  seemed  to  them  but  as  flaxen 
cords,  that  "  sunder  at  touch  of  fire."  The  poor  emi 
grant,  who  has  purchased  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic 
with  the  hard  earnings  of  many  years,  and  come  to 
build  up  the  fortunes  of  his  family  on  these  shores,  could 
see  where  our  great  strength  lay ;  but  the  princes, 
dukes,  earls,  the  educated  statesmen  and  diplomatists 
could  not  see  it.  Nevertheless,  He  who  raised  Abraham 
Lincoln  from  the  farm  and  forest  to  the  chair  of  state, 
and  called  him  to  exchange  the  woodman's  axe  for  the 
sceptre  of  authority,  has  revealed  to  them,  through  him, 
new  ideas  of  the  nature  of  real  power.  They  have  seen 
his  sterling  character  put  into  the  crucible  to  be  brought 
forth  like  gold  from  the  refining  flame,  and  they  have 
learned,  through  him,  as  the  ruler  of  free  men  and  the 
representative  of  free  labor,  how  great  a  work  this  nation 
has  to  do.  The  story  of  his  life  is  the  guarantee  of  our 
national  immortality.  And  thus  to-day,  our  fathers' 
God,  who  hath  wrought  out  our  national  emancipation 
by  this  "  chosen  instrumentality,"  teaches  them  as  well 
as  us,  that  his  resources  are  not  stinted,  that  "  his  arm 
is  not  shortened  that  it  cannot  save"  ;  and  that,  as  the 
exiled  prophet  of  Patmos  said,  He  is  "  Alpha  and 
Omega,  the  First  and  the  Last "  ;  the  beginning  is  the 
surety  of  the  end. 

And  let  it  be  observed  in  this  connection,  that  the 
event  which  engrosses  the  nation's  thought  at  this  hour 


140  SERMONS   ON   THE 

will  ever  stand  forth  as  a  salient  point  of  American  his 
tory.  Its  full  effect,  no  human  being  can  foretell ;  but 
it  will  surely  accelerate  the  progress  of  the  republic 
upon  its  new  career  of  a  free,  Christian  civilization. 
More  than  ever  the  millions  of  our  land,  whether  of 
Caucasian  or  African,  of  Teutonic  or  Celtic  blood,  are 
fused  into  one  vital  nationality.  "  The  day  of  the  Lord 
hasteth  greatly,"  said  the  prophet  Zephaniah  to  the 
people  of  his  time.  Even  the  workers  of  mischief  help 
it  forward,  though  not  after  the  manner  they  intend. 
Since  the  death  of  Julius  Caesar  in  the  Roman  senate- 
house,  no  assassination  of  a  public  man  has  exerted  an 
influence  so  profound  and  far-reaching.  The  murder  of 
Caesar  was  perpetrated  in  the  name  of  freedom  ;  but  it 
established  imperialism,  and  brought  forth  a  race  of 
emperors,  most  of  whom  were  unsurpassed  as  monsters 
of  wickedness  ;  the  assassination  of  our  President  has 
been  accomplished  in  the  interest  of  the  slave-power; 
but  will  it  subserve,  think  you,  the  behest  of  that  base, 
barbarous  despotism?  No.  Although  the  joy  of  victory 
may  have  disposed  the  hearts  of  many  to  favor  the  invi 
tation  extended  to  some  of  the  rebel  champions  to  take 
their  places  in  the  halls  of  legislation  as  the  architects  of 
reconstruction,  the  loyal  masses  of  the  people  will  be 
more  wary  now,  and  will  not  rest  until  the  last  fibre  in 
the  heart  of  the  slave-power  shall  have  been  crushed, 
and  its  last  "  vital  spark"  of  infernal  flame  extinguished. 
True,  indeed,  our  enemies  still  exult,  —  Gath  and 
Askelon  are  yet  merry ;  they  rejoice  in  their  secret 
cabals,  in  their  haunts  of  violence,  in  their  guerilla  dens, 
in  their  resorts  of  revelry  and  song.  They  say  Abra- 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  141 

ham  Lincoln  is  dead,  "  Aha,  so  would  we  have  it." 
But  we  believe  in  the  resurrection, — yea,  more;  we 
believe  that  Abraham  Lincoln  "  still  lives,"  that  he  is 
"  marching  on,"  and  time  will  soon  teach  them  "  What 
this  rising  from  the  dead  doth  mean."  Time  shall  soon 
furnish  a  fresh  commentary,  a  new  unfolding  of  the  far- 
reaching  sense  of  that  saying  which  Jesus  uttered  on  the 
first  day  of  the  first  "  passion- week,"  in  the  year  33  : 
"Verily,  I  say  unto  you,  except  a  corn  of  wheat  fall 
into  the  ground  and  die,  it  abideth  alone  :  but  if  it  die, 
it  bringeth  forth  much  fruit."  The  \vorld  will  see  this 
truth  realized  in  our  history.  "  By  wicked  hands  "  the 
President  "  hath  been  slain  ;  "  but  the  harvest  of  moral 
fruitage  from  his  death  will  be  the  garnered  legacy  of  the 
nation  through  the  ages  to  come.  The  dark  Saturday 
of  the  Passion-week  of  1865  will  be  the  harbinger  of  a 
brighter  day,  "  whose  sun  shall  no  more  go  down." 

As  we  trace  the  hand  of  God  in  history,  it  is  a  source 
of  comfort  and  strength  to  call  to  mind  the  proofs 
evolved  by  the  last  five  years,  that  God  raised  up  Abra 
ham  Lincoln,  and  "made  his  name  great"  for  us ;  that 
the  singular  combination  and  balance  of  forces  that  dis 
tinguished  his  character  was  a  special  gift  to  this  nation 
for  its  "  time  of  need ;"  and  the  cheering  truth  that 
gleams  forth  from  this  retrospect,  inspiring  fresh  hope 
touching  the  veiled  future  is,  that  there  was  the  same 
divine  wisdom  in  the  withdrawal  of  the  gift  that  there 
was  in  its  bestowal. 

Over  the  lifeless  form  of  our  murdered  leader,  there 
fore,  let  it  be  ours  to  worship  and  adore,  in  the  spirit  of 
the  afflicted  patriarch,  "  the  greatest  of  all  the  men  of 


142  SERMONS. 

the  East" ;  who,  as  he  sat  in  sorrow  amid  the  ravages  of 
his  fields,  the  desolations  of  his  home  and  the  corpses  of 
his  children,  exclaimed  in  those  memorable  words,  more 
than  ever  weighty  with  an  emphasis  of  meaning  for  us 
to-day,  "  the  Lord  GAVE,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away, 
blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 

Shall  we,  as  a  favored  people,  acknowledge  the  great 
ness  of  the  gift,  the  munificence  of  the  giver,  and  then 
fail  to  see  and  acknowledge  the  wisdom  that  hath  deter 
mined  the  time  of  its  continuance  ?  Thanks  be  to  God, 
that  the  President  lived  to  see  the  rebel  power  broken 
by  the  surrender  of  its  general-in-chief,  and  to  walk  the 
streets  of  its  capitol.  Thanks  be  to  God,  that  he  lived 
to  see  the  close  of  the  day  that  witnessed  the  restoration 
of  our  insulted  flag  over  the  ruins  of  Fort  Sumter  by  the 
same  hand  that  had  unfurled  it  there,  amid  many  prayers, 
in  an  hour  of  peril,  and  then  had  withdrawn  it  without 
dishonor  !  Thanks  be  to  God,  that  the  last  announce 
ment  of  the  President  to  the  nation  that  he  loved  more 
than  life  was,  that  he  was  drafting  a  proclamation  of 
national  thanksgiving,  calling  upon  all  to  unite  in 
anthems  of  praise  unto  Him  who  hath  given  us  the  vic 
tory.  That  call  a  grateful  people  will  answer  in  due 
time  ;  and  in  the  anthems  of  that  festival  he  will  join  in 
concert  with  the  heavenly  choirs  that  hailed  the  advent 
of  our  Messiah  over  the  plains  of  Bethlehem,  when  they 
sang :  "  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest,  peace  on  earth,  and 

GOOD  WILL  TOWARD  MEN  !  " 


REV.   E.   B.    WEBB. 


ISAIAH   XXI:  11,  12. 


HE    CALLETH   TO   ME   OUT   OF   SEIR,  "WATCHMAN,  WHAT   OF   THE 

NIGHT  ?   WATCHMAN,  WHAT  OF  THE  NIGHT  ? 

THE    WATCHMAN    SAID,  THE    MORNING   COMETH,  AND  ALSO 
THE  NIGHT. 


THESE  words  seem  to  me  strikingly  appropriate  to 
our  present  circumstances.  Last  Sabbath  morning 
it  was  my  privilege  to  place  before  your  minds  some 
reasons  for  thankfulness,  —  thankfulness  to  God.  Then 
the  streets  were  decked  with  symbols  of  joy ;  gladness 
in  welcome  accents  broke  from  every  lip.  Men's  coun 
tenances  were  bright,  as  if  reflecting  the  coming  of  the 
morning.  We  clasped  each  other's  hands  with  a  jubilant 
pulse,  and  every  eye  answered  back  hope,  inspiration,  to 
the  eye  that  looked  into  it. 

But  how  changed  is  all  in  a  moment !  Yesterday 
morning  flags  were  set  at  half-mast.  Even  Sumter's 
flag  is  but  half  raised.  As  the  day  advanced, 
emblems  of  mourning  drooped  from  the  highest  win 
dows  to  the  sidewalk.  The  President  is  assassinated! 
Men  hold  their  breath,  and  turn  pale  at  the  appalling 
words.  Citizens  meet,  and  shake  hands,  and  part  in 
13  (145) 


146  SERMONS    ON   THE 

silence.  Words  express  nothing  when  uttered.  All 
attempt  to  express  the  nation's  grief  is  utterly 
commonplace  and  insignificant.  An  eclipse  seems  to 
have  come  upon  the  brilliancy  of  the  flag,  —  a  smile 
seems  irrelevant  and  sacrilegious.  Even  the  fresh,  green 
grass,  just  coming  forth  to  meet  the  return  of  spring 
and  the  singing  of  birds,  seems  to  wear  the  shadows 
of  twilight  at  noonday.  The  sun  is  less  bright  than 
before,  and  the  very  atmosphere  seems  to  hold  in  it  for 
the  tearful  eye  a  strange  ethereal  element  of  gloom. 
Surely  "  the  night  cometh"  And  as  we  gather  here 
this  morning,  after  an  absence  of  only  two  days,  how 
appalling,  in  this  cheerful  home  of  our  religious  affec 
tions,  are  these  wide-hung  emblems  of  grief  and  anguish ! 
It  is  manly  to  weep  to-day.  The  coming  of  the  morning, 
and  also  the  night,  are  strangely  mingled. 

Had  death  overtaken  any  one  of  our  brilliant  military 
leaders  in  the  field,  we  should  have  said  it  was  a  thing 
to  be  expected.  Had  any  sudden  reverse  in  the  fortunes 
of  war  visited  one  of  our  armies,  it  would  have  been  a 
terrible  grief,  but  still  a  kind  of  calamity  to  which  we 
have  become  accustomed.  Had  the  President  fallen  by 
a  chance  shot  in  Richmond,  or  by  the  hand  of  some 
lurking  assassin,  as  he  passed  the  fortifications  through 
which  our  hearts  did  not  consent  to  his  going,  we  should 
but  have  realized  some  of  our  transient  forebodings.  But 
after  his  safe  return,  and  the  triumph  of  our  arms,  which 
he  took  so  much  pleasure  in  telegraphing  to  the  people, 
we  had  almost  dismissed  from  our  minds  any  fears  for 
the  safety  of  his  life.  And  hence  the  telegram  an 
nouncing  the  death  of  the  President  at  such  a  time,  in 


DEATH    OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  147 

such  a  way,  falls  upon  us  like  a  crash  of  thunder  from 
an  unclouded  sky. 

Wearied  with  the  duties  of  his  high  position,  and  the 
persistent  annoyance  of  petty  office-seekers,  and  unwil 
ling  to  disappoint  the  people  even  in  their  unreasonable 
expectations,  he  sought  an  hour's  recreation  in  the 
theatre.  And  what  a  horrible  tragedy !  The  actor, 
having  thoroughly  prepared  his  part,  and  being  often 
defeated  in  one  way  and  another  from  the  fiendish 
acting  of  it,  finds  his  opportunity  at  last.  With  the 
stealthy  step  of  a  base,  brutal  coward,  with  a  damning 
lie  on  his  tongue,  and  the  heart  of  a  demon  in  his  breast, 
he  approaches  the  generous,  unsuspecting  man  in  the 
rear  of  his  seat,  and,  aiming  the  fatal  weapon  with  prac 
tised  hand  at  the  back  of  his  head,  puts  the  ball  directly 
through  his  brain,  and  then  makes  his  escape  through 
the  screens  and  drapery  and  doors  with  which  his  calling 
had  made  him  acquainted.  There  are  no  last  words  for 
wife  or  children,  —  no  word  for  the  people's  heart  to 
which  he  always  spoke,  —  no  parting  counsel  for  a 
bereaved  and  almost  bewildered  nation.  The  hand 
that  signed  the  emancipation  proclamation  hangs  help 
less  in  death  :  the  mind  which  had  borne  so  evenly  the 
tremendous  strain  of  four  unparalleled  years  is  hurled 
from  its  throne  :  the  great,  good,  magnanimous  heart  is 
stilled  :  those  generous  lips  which  have  spoken  mercy  so 
often,  and  would  perhaps,  like  the  martyred  Stephen's, 
have  said  in  their  last  articulate  speech,  "  Lord,  lay  not 
this  sin  to  their  charge,"  are  sealed  forever.  The  nation 
has  lost  a  father  ;  the  human  race  a  sincere,  devoted, 
and  able  leader  ! 


148  SERMONS   ON   THE 

I  have  had  no  time  to  analyze  the  character,  or  choose 
out  words  to  express  our  sense  of  the  worth  of  the  late 
Abraham  Lincoln.  But  I  may  employ,  with  your  appro 
bation  I  am  sure,  the  words  used  by  Daniel  Webster 
concerning  Zachary  Taylor  :  "He  has  left  on  the  minds 
of  the  country  a  strong  impression  ;  first,  of  his  absolute 
honesty  and  integrity  of  character  ;  next,  of  his  sound, 
practical  good  sense  ;  and,  lastly,  of  the  mildness,  kind 
ness,  and  friendliness  of  his  temper  towards  all  his 
countrymen." 

Yes,  "  towards  all  his  countrymen."  He  was,  on  the 
very  day  of  his  untimely  death,  exerting  all  the  kindness 
of  his  unselfish  nature,  and  prepared,  it  is  believed^  to 
peril  all  his  great  popularity  in  inaugurating  a  policy 
most  lenient,  most  forgiving  towards  those  who  had  for 
feited  everything  except  the  right  to  be  hung.  They 
have  put  aside  their  friend.  They  have  murdered  the 
new-born  mercy  which  waited  to  bless  them.  No  man 
could  if  he  would,  and  no  man  was  disposed  to  do  so 
much  for  them  as  Abraham  Lincoln. 

And  how  the  loyal  people  confided  in  him  ;  how  im 
plicitly  the  common  people  trusted  him  !  The  world 
has  scarcely  seen  the  like.  He  came  to  the  chair 
of  the  chief  magistrate  from  the  rough  experience  of 
frontier  life.  He  owed  his  election,  and  the  favor  with 
which  he  was  received,  to  the  belief  in  the  minds  of 
the  people,  that  he  was  an  honest  man. 

And  did  he  disappoint  that  confidence  ?  Did  he  show 
himself  unworthy  ?  Did  he  ever  incur  the  suspicion  of 
dishonesty,  or  corruption  ?  Or  did  he  ever  swerve  from 
what  he  conceived  to  be  the  path  of  duty  to  win  popular 


DEATH   OF  PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  149 

applause  ?  Never.  On  the  other  hand,  so  impartial 
was  he  in  selecting  men  from  all  parties  to  fill  the  high 
offices  of  government,  so  artless  was  he  in  all  that  he 
did,  so  transparent  were  his  deeds,  and  his  motives,  that 
by  a  popular  vote  scarcely  paralleled,  the  people  called 
him  a  second  time  to  guide  the  nation  for  another  four 
years.  He  knew  nothing  of  tricks,  or  double  dealing, 
or  party  shifts,  or  crooked  policies.  He  was  a  sincere, 
impartial,  straightforward,  honest  man.  And  the  people 
saw  it  and  felt  it,  and  were  glad  of  an  opportunity  to 
honor  him  with  an  overwhelming  repetition  of  their  well 
placed  confidence.  What  a  noble  example  is  he  to  all 
young  men  looking  to  office,  or  popular  regard.  With 
no  military  reputation,  with  no  brilliant  oratory,  with  no 
winning  grace  of  manners,  he  was  the  foremost  man  for 
the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  a  great,  free,  and  intelli 
gent  people,  once  and  again  because  he  was  a  man  of 
absolute  honesty  and  integrity  of  character. 

And  besides  these  unselfish,  impartial,  upright  ele 
ments  of  character,  there  was  a  masterful  common-sense, 
a  genial  mother-wit,  and  a  practical  statesmanship, 
which  showed  themselves  in  some  of  the  most  compact 
specimens  of  argument,  happy  avoidances  of  difficulty, 
and  a  thorough  apprehension  of  popular  instincts  and 
judgments. 

He  was  unpolished  in  style,  but  he  was  profound  in 
thought.  He  was  pithy  in  his  sentences,  but  original 
and  patient  in  investigation :  rough  on  the  exterior  but 
a  jewel  within,  — 

"  Rich  in  saving  common-sense." 
13* 


150  SERMONS  ON  THE 

How  much  we  owe  to  his  unambitious  example ;  how 
much  to  his  far-reaching  discernment ;  how  much  to 
his  good-natured  hearing  of  all  sides ;  how  much  to 
his  steady  calm  judgment  which  held  the  scales,  in  the 
fury  and  gusts  of  the  storm,  as  equally  poised  as  if  in  the 
atmosphere  of  peace  and  calm ;  how  much  to  his  great 
forbearance  under  stinging  reproach ;  how  much  to  his 
knowledge  of,  and  unwavering  confidence  in  the  people 
and  the  people's  cause,  God  knows,  but  we  know  not  as 
yet.  May  the  day  never  come  when  by  bitter  contrast 
we  shall  learn  how  wise  and  safe  was  the  confidence 
which  we  reposed  in  him. 

This  nation  mourns  to-day  as  it  never  mourned  before. 
The  statesmen  of  the  land  had  learned  to  trust  him  in 
the  greatest  exigencies ;  the  impatient  were  restrained 
by  his  moderation ;  the  immovable  and  morose  were 
moved  and  almost  brought  into  time  by  his  steady,  sym 
pathetic  step  forward ;  the  one-eyed  were  made  ashamed 
of  then:  ignorance  by  an  hour  in  his  society  ;  the  revenge 
ful  learned  magnanimity  from  his  deeds.  The  soldiers 
loved  him,  and  the  soldier's  mother  loved  him,  and  con 
fided  in  him.  The  negroes  loved  him  ;  oh  how  they  will 
mourn  for  him !  Moses  was  not  allowed  to  lead  the 
children  of  Israel  into  the  land  of  peace  and  plenty, 
neither  was  he  allowed  himself  to  enter  it,  but  only  to 
survey  its  broad  prospect  from  Pisgah's  top.  And  so 
their  deliverer  and  ours  is  only  permitted  to  come  to 
the  border,  and  in  these  last  few  days  catch  pleasing 
glimpses  of  the  glorious,  opening  future.  And,  as  when 
Moses  died,  his  eye  not  dim  and  his  natural  force  not 
abated,  there  was  mourning  throughout  all  the  camp  till 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  151 

the  plain  of  Moab  resounded  with  the  cry  of  sires  and 
sons,  mothers  and  maidens,  so  now  there  will  be  mourn 
ing  in  the  camp,  and  mourning  on  the  prairies,  and  far 
away  over  the  mountains  ;  but  nowhere  keener  anguish 
and  disappointment  than  among  the  sable  hosts  whom 
his  noble  heart  and  hand  has  freed.  All  men  uncon 
sciously  speak  of  him  as  our  beloved  President.  And 
the  hand  of  the  assassin  has  embalmed  him  with  all  his 
virtues  and  greatness,  and  made  him  sacred  and  sublime 
in  our  fond,  loving  hearts,  and  in  the  heart  of  the  world 
forever. 

Were  I  to  select  some  one  thing  by  which  to  charac 
terize  Abraham  Lincoln,  I  should  name  his  profound 
apprehension  and  appreciation  of  the  popular  instinct ; 
that  instinct  which  is  true  to  the  right  as  the  needle  to 
the  pole,  in  all  storms,  and  on  every  sea.  He  believed  in 
God ;  he  believed  God  was  to  be  recognized  in  this  war. 
He  believed  that  the  set  of  the  loyal  masses,  — the  deep, 
silent  current,  which  bears  on  events  is  in  the  line  of 
God's  advance.  And,  thus  believing,  he  governed  himself 
by  his  apprehension  of  the  people,  and  of  God  as  mani 
fest  in  their  silent  set  or  drift.  As  the  philosopher 
learns  the  plans  of  God  from  an  unprejudiced  study  of 
nature,  so  he  learned  the  purposes  of  God  from  the 
instincts  of  the  people.  As  the  naturalist  discovers  from 
the  structure  of  the  animal  what  its  mode  of  life  and 
habits  must  be,  so  he  saw  from  the  essential  peculiarities 
of  our  government  whither  our  future  must  tend.  He 
did  not  mean  to  be  ahead  of  the  popular  feeling,  for  then 
there  would  be  a  re-action  against  his  policy.  He  did 
not  mean  to  be  much  behind  it,  for  then  some  other  agent 


152  SERMONS   ON  THE 

might  be  sought  through  which  to  give  it  expression. 
And  so  regarding  the  voice  of  the  loyal  people  in  this 
great  crisis  of  the  republic  as  the  voice  of  God,  he  kept 
his  ear  open  and  his  eye  attent,  and  marshalled  his  policy 
not  quite  abreast  of  the  divinely  led  masses.  He  sought 
not  to  control  an  age  thus  moved  and  inspired,  but  to  be 
controlled  by  it. 

Herein  was  his  wisdom ;  herein  his  greatness  ;  herein 
his  power.  This  was  the  secret  of  his  success,  the  source 
of  that  light  which,  in  all  coming  time,  shall  gild  with 
unfading  splendor  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

As  the  Netherlands  mourned  for  William,  Prince  of 
Orange,  as  France  mourned  for  Henry  IV.,  "we  have 
lost  our  father, — we  have  lost  our  father  !  "  so  America 
mourns  to-day. 

"  Such  was  he,  his  work  is  done  ; 

But  while  the  races  of  mankind  endure, 

Let  his  great  example  stand 

Colossal,  seen  of  every  land, 

And  keep  the  soldier  firm,  the  statesman  pure ; 

Till  in  all  lands  and  thro'  all  human  story, 

The  path  of  duty  be  the  way  to  glory. 

But  speak  no  more  of  his  renown, 

Lay  your  earthly  fancies  down  ; 

And  in  the  vast  cathedral  leave  him, 

God  accept  him,  Christ  receive  him." 

1.  And  now,  my  friends,  what  are  the  lessons  of  this 
great  calamity  ?  First  of  all,  submission.  God  reigns  ; 
we  are  absolutely  dependent  and  sinful.  The  Emperor 
Mauritius  seeing  all  his  children  slain  before  his  face  at 


DEATH   OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  153 

the  command  of  the  bloody  tyrant,  and  usurper,  Phocas, 
himself  expecting  the  next  stroke,  exclaimed  aloud,  in 
the  words  of  David :  "  Righteous  art  thou,  O  Lord,  and 
upright  are  thy  judgments."  This  event  takes  us  by 
surprise,  but  the  origin,  maturity,  and  perpetration  of 
this  awful  crime  was  all  under  the  sleepless  eye  of  God. 
For  reasons  which  we  cannot  fathom  now,  nor  find,  He 
has  permitted  it.  Perhaps  when  this  day,  the  I4lh  of 
April,  forever  marked  in  our  calendar ;  marked  by  the 
humbling  of  the  flag  at  Sumter  ;  marked  by  the  exaltation 
of  the  flag  four  years  after,  —  perhaps,  wrhen  the  14th  of 
April  comes  round  four  years  hence,  we  shall  know  more 
of  God's  designs  in  permitting  this  foul  murder  of  our 
beloved  President.  There  is  ONE  whom  the  hand  of  vio 
lence  cannot  reach ;  and  He  has  not  led  us  thus  far  to 
desert  and  destroy  us  now.  Meanwhile,  as  becomes  us, 
let  us  bow  our  heads  in  meek  submission  to  the  divine 
will.  Surely  his  footsteps  are  in  the  great  deep ;  his 
designs  are  hidden  from  us  in  the  dark :  but  let  us  trust 
him ;  let  us  cleave  unto  him.  Submitting  penitently 
to  the  rod  of  affliction,  let  us  put  our  hand  in  his,  and 
say,  Father  lead,  Father  spare  and  bless. 

2.  A  second  lesson  is  this  :  Execute  justice  in  the  land. 
What  is  the  foundation  of  our  confidence  in  God  ?  Is 
it  not  that  he  will  do  right  ?  Is  it  not  what  David  says, 
over  and  over  again,  in  all  his  trials, — justice  and 
judgment  arc  the  habitation  of  his  throne  ?  And  just 
these  — justice  and  judgment  —  are  the  foundation  of 
every  throne,  and  of  every  government.  I  spoke  on 
Thursday,  as  far  as  it  was  appropriate  to  rny  theme,  of 
the  tremendous  mistake  and  folly  and  sin,  for  the 


154  SERMONS   ON  THE 

people  of  a  great  nation  to  think  that  they  can  neglect 
or  violate  the  laws  of  God  with  impunity.  Just  here 
has  been  our  danger.  There  has  been  a  miserable, 
morbid,  bastard  philanthropy,  which,  if  it  did  not  make 
the  murderer's  couch  a  bed  of  flowers,  and  set  his  ta.ble 
with  butter  and  honey,  made  him  an  object  of  sympathy, 
and,  after  a  while,  of  executive  clemency.  We  are  weak 
in  our  sense  of  justice.  Why,  how  long  is  it  since  a 
man  was  pursued  in  the  streets  of  Washington,  and, 
though  begging  for  his  life,  shot  to  mutilation  ?  He  was 
guilty  of  a  foul  crime  ?  Yes.  But  did  that  give  the 
injured  man  a  right  to  murder  him  ?  Are  there  no 
courts,  no  ministers  of  justice  in  the  land  ?  But  the 
murderer  was  acquitted,  \vith  applause  in  the  court-room. 
Only  this  very  spring,  a  young  woman  shot  one  of  the 
clerks  dead  in  the  hall  of  the  Treasury-building.  To  be 
sure,  she  said  that  he  had  broken  his  vow  to  marry  her. 
And  when  I  was  in  Washington,  a  few  weeks  since,  it  was 
confidently  expected  that  she  too  would  be  acquitted. 
And  here  in  Massachusetts,  not  to  speak  of  other  States 
now,  where  the  punishment  of  murder  is  death,  the 
guilty  wretch,  who  could  brood  over  his  infernal  plan  for 
weeks,  and  finally,  after  several  attempts  on  the  same 
day,  execute  it  upon  an  innocent,  unsuspecting  young 
man,  and  all  for  the  sake  of  a  few  hundreds,  or,  at  the 
most,  thousands  of  dollars,  is  allowed  to  live,  and  become 
an  object  of  sympathy.  To  shield  his  forfeited  life 
imperils  that  of  every  young  man  who  stands  behind  a 
counter  in  Massachusetts.  Living,  he  is  an  encourage 
ment  to  all  persons  like-minded  to  do  likewise.  Yea, 
saith  the  Governor,  ye  shall  not  surely  die. 


DEATH  OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  155 

And  so  in  regard  to  the  leaders  of  this  infernal 
rebellion;  the  feeling  was  gaining  ground  here  to  let 
them  off  really  without  penalty.  They  are  our  breth 
ren,  it  is  said.  Then  they  have  added  fratricide  to 
the  enormity  of  their  other  crimes,  and  are  unspeakably 
the  more  guilty. 

The  punishment  which  a  nation  inflicts  on  crime  is 
the  nation's  estimate  of  the  evil  and  guilt  of  that  crime. 
Let  these  men  go,  and  we  have  said  practically  that 
treason  is  merely  a  difference  of  political  opinion. 

I  do  not  criticise  the  parole  which  was  granted,  though, 
for  the  life  of  me,  I  cannot  see  one  shadow  of  reason  for 
expecting  it  will  be  kept  by  men  who  have  broken  their 
most  solemn  and  deliberate  oath  to  the  same  government. 
It  was  not  kept  by  the  rebels  who  took  it  at  Vicksburg. 
Nor  will  I  criticise,  for  I  cannot  understand,  the  policy 
which  allows  General  Lee  to  commend  his  captured 
army  for  "  devotion  to  country,"  and  "  duty  faithfully 
performed."  But  I  considered  the  manner  in  which 
the  parole  was  indorsed  and  interpreted  as  practically 
insuring  a  pardon;  and  to  pardon  them  is  a  violation 
of  my  instincts,  as  it  is  of  the  laws  of  the  land,  and 
of  the  laws  of  God.  I  believe  in  the  exercise  of 
magnanimity;  but  mercy  to  those  leaders  is  eternal 
cruelty  to  this  nation ;  is  an  unmitigated,  unmea 
sured  curse  to  unborn  generations  !  It  is  a  wrong 
against  which  every  fallen  soldier  in  his  grave, 
from  Pennsylvania  to  Texas,  utters  an  indignant  and 
unsilenced  rebuke.  Because  of  this  mawkish  leniency, 
four  years  ago,  treason  stalked  in  the  streets,  and 
boasted  defiance  in  the  halls  of  the  Capitol ;  secession 


156  SERMONS   ON   THE 

organized  unmolested,  and  captured  our  neglected  forts 
and  starving  garrisons.  Because  of  a  drivelling,  mor 
bid,  perverted  sense  of  justice,  the  enemy  of  the  gov 
ernment  has  been  permitted  to  go  at  large,  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Capitol,  all  through  this  war.  God  only 
knows  how  much  we  have  suffered  for  the  lack  of  jus 
tice.  And  now  to  restore  these  leaders  seems  like 
moral  insanity.  Better  than  this,  give  us  back  the 
stern,  inflexible  indignation  of  the  old  Puritan,  and  the 
lex  talionis  of  the  Hebrew  Lawgiver.  Our  consciences 
are  debauched,  our  instincts  confounded,  our  laws  set 
aside,  by  this  indorsement  of  a  blind,  passionate  phi 
lanthropy. 

Theodore  Parker  has  a  passage  in  his  work  on  reli 
gion,  in  which  he  gathers  into  heaven  the  debauchee, 
the  swarthy  Indian,  the  imbruted  Calmuck,  and  the 
grim-faced  savage,  with  his  hands  still  red  and  reeking 
with  the  blood  of  his  slaughtered  human  victims.  And 
the  idea,  to  me,  of  placing  the  leaders  of  this  diabolical 
rebellion  in  a  position  where  they  might  come  again 
red-handed  into  the  councils  of  the  nation,  is  equally 
revolting  and  sacrilegious.  It  makes  me  shudder. 
And  yet  I  think  there  was  an  indecent  leniency  begin 
ning  to  manifest  itself  towards  them,  which  would  have 
allowed  to  these  men,  by  and  by,  votes  and  honors 
and  lionizing.  The  soldiers  did  not  relish  this  pros 
pect.  They  are  not  to  be  deceived  by  the  misapplica 
tion  of  the  term  magnanimity  to  an  act  that  turns  loose 
into  the  bosom  of  society  the  men  who  systematically 
murdered  our  prisoners  by  starvation,  and  again  and 
again  shot  prisoners  of  war  after  they  had  surrendered, 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  157 

—  shot  gallant  officers,  even  in  these  last  battles,  after 
being  told  that  they  were  mortally  wounded,  and  strung 
up  Union  men  in  North  Carolina  because  they  had 
enlisted  in  the  federal  army. 

And  now  we  see  and  feel  just  as  the  soldiers  do.  The 
spirit  that  shot  down  our  men  on  the  way  to  the  capital, 
the  spirit  that  shot  Ellsworth  at  Alexandria,  the  spirit 
that  organized  treachery,  treason,  and  rebellion,  the 
spirit  that  armed  those  leaders  to  strike  at  the  life  of 
the  government,  is  the  same  hell-born  spirit  that  das 
tardly  takes  the  life  of  our  beloved  President,  —  is  the 
same  atrocious  spirit  that  seeks  the  bed-chamber  of  a 
sick  and  helpless  man,  and  cuts  his  throat,  and  strikes 
the  murderous  dirk  at  the  heart  of  every  attendant. 
We  see  its  malignant,  fiendish  nature  now  ! 

And  what  shall  be  done  with  these  secessionists,  if  we 
succeed  in  arresting  them  before  they  get  out  of  the 
country,  with  the  blood  of  the  President,  and  of  the 
Minister  of  State  on  their  hands  ?  Pity  them  as  insane  ? 
parole  them  as  prisoners  of  war  ?  Doubtless,  like  the 
St.  Albans  raiders,  they  have  their  commission  from 
Pvichmond  !  Does  this  make  your  blood  boil  ?  is  this  too 
shocking  to  suppose  ?  Well :  shall  we  hang  them,  — hang 
the  less  guilty,  and  let  the  more  guilty  go  free  ?  hang  the 
miserable,  worthless  hirelings,  and  let  the  principals 
and  chiefs  live  ?  To  do  that  is  to  arm  men,  and  goad 
them  to  take  vengeance  into  their  own  hands.  The 
instinctive  justice  of  the  human  conscience  must  be 
satisfied  by  the  action  of  government,  or  it  will  have 
private  revenge.  There  is  a  consciousness  of  right  in 
the  masses,  that  will  not  be  tampered  with,  in  such  a 
14 


158  SERMONS   ON  THE 

time  as  this.  Not  the  branches  of  this  accursed  tree, 
but  the  trunk  and  the  roots  must  be  exterminated  from 
the  land.  Hear  me,  patriots,  sires  of  murdered  sons, 
weeping  wives  and  orphans,  —  I  say  exterminated ! 
"  Ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction  for  the  life  of  a  mur 
derer,  and  ye  shall  take  no  satisfaction  for  the  life  of 
him  that  is  fled,  that  he  come  again  to  dwell  in  the 
land  ;  for  blood  it  defileth  the  land,  and  the  land  cannot 
be  cleansed  but  by  the  blood  of  him  that  shed  it." 
And  when  David  died,  he  charged  Solomon  to  fulfil  this 
divine  command  in  regard  to  Joab  and  Shimei,  who  had 
been  too  strong  for  him  during  his  life. 

3.  One  thing  more  :  Let  us  face  the  future,  and  all 
the  solemn  responsibilities  of  these  uncertain  hours  with 
courage.  We  have  God  on  the  throne  that  no  violence 
can  reach,  —  the  God  who  has  always  been  with  us. 
"Why  art  thou  cast  down,  O  my  soul?  and  why  art 
thou  disquieted  in  me  ?  Hope  thou  in  God,  for  I  shall 
yet  praise  him  who  is  the  health  of  my  countenance  and 
my  God." 

And  then,  such  is  the  happy  structure  of  our  govern 
ment  that  no  assassination  can  arrest  its  wheels.  A 
terrible  calamity  has  overtaken  us,  but  it  will  only  the 
more  exhibit  the  inherent  vitality  of  our  institutions, 
and  the  greater  strength  of  the  people. 

Andrew  Johnson,  who  now  becomes  the  chief  magis 
trate,  by  the  mysterious  providence  of  God,  is  unques 
tionably  an  able  man.  He  has  been  much  in  public 
life,  and  never  failed  —  except  in  his  speech  on  inaugu 
ration  day  —  to  meet  the  exigencies  of  his  position. 
Besides,  he  has  had  a  schooling  in  Tennessee  which 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  159 

may  have  prepared  him  to  lead  at  this  very  time. 
When  I  was  in  Washington,  four  years  ago,  I  heard 
much  in  his  praise.  He  told  the  secessionists,  who 
were  just  then  leaving  their  seats  in  the  Senate  to 
inaugurate  the  rebellion,  —  told  them  to  their  faces,  for 
substance,  —  "were  I  President  of  the  United  States,  I 
would  arrest  you  as  traitors,  and  try  you  as  traitors,  and 
convict  you  as  traitors,  and  hang  you  as  traitors."  And 
judging  from  the  speech  which  he  made  at  Washington 
after  the  news  of  the  fall  of  Richmond,  he  has  not 
changed  his  mind. 

We  want  no  revenge  :  we  will  wait  the  forms  and 
processes  of  law.  We  want  justice  tempered  with 
mercy.  We  want  the  leaders  punished,  but  the  masses 
pardoned.  Let  us  confide  in  him  as  our  President. 
And  do  you  make  crime  odious ;  disfranchise  every 
man  who  has  held  office  in  the  rebel  government,  and 
every  commissioned  officer  in  the  rebel  army;  make 
the  halter  certain  to  the  intelligent  and  influential, 
who  are  guilty  of  perjury  and  treason,  and  so  make 
yourself  a  terror  to  him  that  doeth  evil,  and  a  praise  to 
him  that  doeth  good,  —  and  we  will  stand  by  you, 
Andrew  Johnson. 

Another  ground  of  courage  is,  that  the  nation  is  a 
unit  against  rebellion  to-day  as  it  never  was  before.  It 
is  too  much  to  hope,  I  suppose,  that  any  traitor  will 
have  his  eyes  opened  to  see  the  true  character  of  the 
awful  work  in  which  he  has  been  engaged,  though  it 
seems  as  if  such  an  atrocious  butchery  were  enough  to 
make  him  see  it ;  but  of  this  be  sure,  that  all  loyal  men 
are  united  now ;  and  woe  be  to  the  secessionist  who 


160  SERMONS. 

does  not  instantly  sue  for  mercy,  or  fly  the  country.  I 
have  seen  them  launch  a  great  ship.  The  ways  are 
laid,  solid  and  secure.  And  then  the  workmen  split 
away,  one  after  another,  the  blocks  from  underneath  the 
keel.  Gradually  the  huge  structure  settles  upon  the 
slippery  ways,  and  glides  majestically  into  her  future 
element.  The  two  ways  under  our  ship  of  state  are 
justice  and  mercy.  In  the  providence  of  God,  block 
after  block  has  been  knocked  away ;  prop  after  prop 
removed,  till  now,  just  ready  to  glide  into  the  new 
future,  she  is  settling  all  her  weight  upon  her  ways,  — 
ways  made  slippery  by  the  blood  of  the  murdered 
chief  magistrate,  and  minister :  woe,  ivoe,  woe  to  him 
who  puts  himself  in  the  line  of  her  course.  Infinitely 
better  for  him,  had  he  been  strangled  at  the  birth. 

Be  sure,  this  people  will  mourn  from  sea  to  sea :  but 
be  sure,  also,  that  any  provocation  will  bring  out  the 
indignant,  instant,  sympathetic  cry  from  every  lip,  "Die, 
traitors,  assassins,  all;  live,  the  republic,  liberty,  and 
law." 

The  God  of  infinite  justice  and  mercy  be  our  helper. 
Amen. 

NOTE.  —  Preached  Sunday  morning,  April  16,  after  the  news 
of  the  assassination  of  President  Lincoln. 


REV.   R.    H.    NEALE. 


MATTHEW,  IX:    15. 


AND  JESUS  SAID  UNTO   THEM,  CAN  THE  CHILDREN  OF  THB 
BRIDE-CHAMBER  MOURN  AS  LONG  AS  THE  BRIDEGROOM  is  "WITH 

THEM  ?      BUT    THE    DAYS  WILL    COME    WHEN    THE     BRIDEGROOM 
SHALL  BE   TAKEN  PROM   THEM,   AND   THEN   SHALL   THEY  PAST. 


I  QUOTED  the  first  part  of  this  text  last  Thursday,  as  a 
reason  for  turning  the  annual  fast  into  a  day  of  thanks 
giving.  They  were  used  by  the  Saviour  to  show  that  it 
was  not  required  of  his  disciples  to  mourn  on  joyous 
occasions,  and  we  were  then  full  of  gladness.  Sad  looks 
would  have  been  sheer  hypocrisy.  So  universal  was  the 
feeling  of  gratitude  for  the  recent  victories  of  our  armies, 
that  it  would  have  been  inconsistent  and  unnatural  on 
that  day  to  have  put  on  sackcloth  and  sat  in  ashes.  It 
seemed  more  befitting  to  improve  the  day,  as  I  believe  it 
generally  was  improved,  in  songs  of  praise,  and  by  the 
voice  of  melody.  How  little  did  any  imagine  that  the 
occasion  for  sorrow,  for  appropriate  fasting  and  universal 
weeping,  was  so  near  at  hand  ! 

So  great  was  my  joy  on  Thursday,  that,  as  I  then  said, 
I  did  not  feel  in  a  sermon-like  mood  of  mind,  though 
religious  considerations  were  never  nearer,  more  vivid 

(163) 


164:  SERMONS   ON  THE 

and  sublime,  than  then.  They  appeared,  however,  not  in 
a  mere  clerical  form,  but  as  they  presented  themselves 
to  the  whole  community,  and  I  wanted  to  throw  off  pro 
fessional  restraint  and  speak  out  freely,  as  a  citizen  and 
a  man;  and  so  I  went  on,  speaking  from  the  heart,  and 
you  obviously  responding  with  equal  fulness  of  soul,  of 
the  great  things  the  Lord  had  done  for  us  ;  we  were 
grateful  and  glad,  and  sang  praises  to  the  God  of  our 
fathers,  who  had  defeated  the  enemy  and  broken  the 
spear  asunder.  But  how  soon  has  our  joy  been  changed 
to  sorrow !  I  feel  that  there  is  a  leaden  weight  upon 
every  heart.  How  can  I  preach  to-day  ?  It  would 
seem  more  natural  to  do  as  did  our  citizens  yesterday, 
when  news  of  the  dreadful  tragedy  first  came.  They 
took  one  another  by  the  hand,  pressed  it  in  silence,  and 
"  wept  the  grief  they  could  not  speak."  Oh,  it  is  hard 
tc  think,  and  must  I  utter  the  unwelcome  thought,  that 
the  President,  the  good  President,  is  dead !  that 
Abraham  Lincoln,  our  Abraham  Lincoln,  whose  name  is 
fraught  with  so  many  endearing  associations,  is  gone  ! 
He  has  been  with  us  during  all  this  war ;  the  thought  of 
him,  his  sagacity,  his  fidelity,  his  buoyant  hope,  has 
cheered  us  in  seasons  of  despondency.  We  felt  secure 
while  he  was  at  the  helm,  and  were  confident  so  long  as 
he  was  not  afraid.  We  leaned  upon  him  as  our  stay 
and  staff.  Alas  !  and  is  the  dear  man  to  be  with  us  no 
more  !  What  familiar  memories  come  sadly  up  at  this 
hour !  It  is  painful  to  think  of  pleasant  things,  his 
looks,  his  anecdotes,  the  way  in  which  we  called  him, 
not  disrespectfully,  but  lovingly,  by  his  first  name.  He 
was  one  of  us,  a  member  of  the  family,  a  parent  and 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  165 

brother,  toward  whom  reverence  and  love  were  sweetly 
intermingled,  —  and  must  we  part  ? 

He  has  gone,  too,  at  such  a  time  !  Just  as  the  bright 
period  long  looked  for  had  come,  —  the  war  ended, 
slavery  dead,  the  rebellion  put  down,  the  long  conflict 
over.  The  good  President,  we  thought,  will  now  have 
some  rest.  He  will  need  no  disguise  at  Baltimore, 
no  military  guard  at  Washington.  He  can  rest  upon  his 
laurels,  and  walk  the  streets  when  and  where  he  pleases. 
Everybody  will  be  his  friend.  No  one,  surely,  will  wish 
to  hurt  him,  he  is  so  kind-hearted  himself.  When  did 
he  ever  knowingly  harm  anybody  ?  It  was  a  comfort  to 
him,  he  said  recently,  that  he  had  never  said  a  word 
or  done  an  act  that  was  designed  to  inflict  a  wound 
upon  any  heart.  Anger  and  revenge  were  no  part  of 
his  nature.  Like  his  Master,  when  reviled,  he  reviled 
not  again,  but  committed  himself  to  Him  that  judgeth 
righteously. 

But  while  we  are  oppressed  with  bereavement,  while 
a  nation  mourns,  and  the  people  are  in  tears  at  their 
loss,  it  is  consoling  to  think  that  he  is  safe.  He  is 
where  no  sorrow  can  reach  him.  As  you  have  just 
sung: 

"  No  mortal  woes 

Can  reach  the  peaceful  sleeper  here, 
While  angels  guard  his  soft  repose." 

He  was  a  good  man,  a  truly  pious  man :  he  did  not 
wish  to  go  to  the  theatre.  The  etiquette  of  public  life 
required  him,  sometimes,  to  sacrifice  his  individual 
preferences ;  besides,  as  General  Grant  had  been  adver- 


166  SERMONS   ON   THE 

tised  to  be  there,  and  could  not  go,  he  was  afraid  the 
people  might  be  disappointed.  How  much  was  this  like 
Abraham  Lincoln,  erring,  if  at  all,  always  on  the  side  of 
kindness  1  He  was  a  man  of  strong  religious  feeling. 
How  impressive  was  the  scene  at  Springfield,  Illinois, 
when  he  was  about  to  leave  home  for  Washington !  He 
stood  on  the  platform  of  the  cars,  his  friends  and  neigh 
bors  around  him,  and  thinking  as  he  did  of  the  respon 
sibilities  he  was  to  assume,  the  trials  and  dangers  that 
were  before  him,  it  was  no  mere  formal  request  that 
he  made,  that  Christians  would  remember  him  in  prayer. 
The  same  request  he  has  often  made  of  the  different 
religious  bodies  that  have  called  upon  him  at  the  Presi 
dential  mansion. 

I  remember  the  interview  which  he  had  with  the 
Christian  Commission  at  our  first  meeting  in  Washing 
ton.  He  received  us  cordially,  and  spoke  warmly  of  the 
enterprise.  "  Nothing,"  he  said,  "  is  better  for  the  sol 
diers  than  to  be  followed  with  Christian  influences,"  and 
seemed  grateful  for  the  privilege  of  giving  to  the  cause 
his  official  sanction.  "  Whatever  the  government  could 
do  to  give  to  our  agents  free  access  to  camp  and  hospital 
should  be  done." 

In  referring,  on  Thursday  last,  to  the  many  good 
things  we  should  be  grateful  for,  I  mentioned  the  re-elec 
tion  of  our  present  noble  Chief  Magistrate.  It  was  an 
occasion  of  gladness  to  the  loyal  people  that  he  who 
had  been  raised  up  of  God  to  conduct  us  safely 
through  the  wilderness  had  not  been  left  like  Moses  to 
die  upon  Mount  Nebo,  but  had  crossed  the  Jordan  and 
entered  the  promised  land.  It  may  seem  now  as  if  the 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  167 

congratulation  was  premature.  I  do  not  think  so.  He 
has  in  the  highest  sense  entered  upon  the  inheritance  of 
true  patriotism  and  Christian  hope.  Gladly  would  we 
have  honored  him  here  on  earth.  We  would  have 
carried  him  in  triumph  through  our  streets.  But  God 
saw  fit  to  bestow  upon  him  a  higher  reward  than  we  could 
give.  A  more  brilliant  assembly  than  ever  was  convened 
on  earth  shall  hear  his  approbation  pronounced,  and  he 
shall  be  crowned,  not  with  fading  laurels,  but  with 
immortal  honor. 

It  is  consoling  to  think,  also,  that  not  only  no  war, 
but  no  political  animosities  shall  reach  him  more.  No 
shafts  of  calumny  shall  enter  his  breast.  I  am  told  that 
the  war  is  not  half  over ;  that  the  process  of  reconstruc 
tion  will  be  attended  with  more  difficulty  and  excitement 
than  the  conflict  of  arms.  And  I  confess,  that,  warmly 
attached  to  the  President  as  I  am,  I  still  felt  afraid  that 
party  divisions  and  party  rancor  might  hereafter  arise 
that  should  disturb  his  peace.  Whatever  else  might 
happen,  I  wanted  that  there  should  be,  in  reference  to 
him,  only  kind  words  and  kind  thoughts.  Such,  I  doubt 
not,  was  the  universal  feeling  of  the  loyal  people.  This 
wish,  at  least,  is  gratified.  His  name  and  fame  are 
secure.  There  will  be  hereafter  as  now,  and  through  all 
time,  and  amid  all  controversies,  a  unanimity  of  profound 
respect  'for  the  honesty,  the  moral  integrity,  the  lofty 
patriotism,  the  well  balanced  mind,  and  the  adminis 
trative  ability  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  not  surpassed,  if 
even  equalled,  by  that  which  is  paid  to  the  memory  of 
Washington.  No  man  in  the  history  of  the  nation  has 
had  greater  responsibilities,  and  it  will  be  the  united 


168  SERMONS    ON   THE 

voice  of  future  generations,  that  no  public  man  has  ever 
sustained  them  more  satisfactorily. 

How  will  the  soldiers  mourn  this  death !  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  not  a  military  man,  but  no  officer  of  the  government, 
no  military  chieftain,  not  even  the  Lieutenant-General 
himself,  was  more  beloved  by  the  army.  The  President 
often  visited  them  in  the  field.  He  went  to  the  hospitals, 
and  was  sure  to  take  every  soldier  by  the  hand,  and  say 
some  comforting  words  to  him.  O,  how  their  bosoms 
will  heave,  and  their  heads  bow  in  sadness,  at  news  of 
his  death. 

In  the  recent  battles  about  Petersburg  and  Rich 
mond  he  was  near  to  the  scene  of  action,  and  his  great 
heart  throbbed  with  joy  at  the  successes  that  were 
achieved.  He  seemed  to  forget  that  he  was  President  of 
the  United  States,  in  the  pleasure  he  felt  of  forwarding 
telegrams  to  the  rejoicing  people.  He  was  happy  in 
making  others  glad.  With  what  childlike  simplicity  he 
speaks  of  the  honor  the  commanding  general  had  con 
ferred  upon  him,  in  allowing  him  to  tell  the  good  news  ! 
Noble  hearted  man!  thy  disinterested  patriotism  and 
sublime  goodness  of  soul  shall  be  a  treasure  to  this 
nation  and  to  humanity  forever. 

And  the  negroes.  What  a  blow  this  death  will  be  to 
them?  He  wrote  the  proclamation  of  their  freedom,  and 
enjoyed  the  comfort  of  doing  it,  more  than  all  the  honors 
which  the  nation  or  the  world  can  confer.  He  stood 
against  the  combined  influence  of  love  and  hatred,  poli 
tical  opposition  and  partisan  friendship,  the  unfaltering 
advocate  of  African  freedom,  and  the  stern  defender  of 
human  rights.  How  those  oppressed  and  grateful  ones 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  1G9 

welcomed  him  in  his  recent  visit  to  Richmond  !  And 
how  the  good  man  enjoyed  it  !  He  wished  for  no  prouder 
ovation.  Men,  women,  and  children,  poor,  ragged,  and 
black,  met  him  at  the  wharf  and  attended  him  through 
the  streets,  weeping,  laughing,  praying,  singing,  shout 
ing,  and  dancing  for  yery  joy.  And  he  the  happiest  of 
them  all.  I  hope  the  scene  will  be  photographed.  It 
will  be  an  honor  to  our  republic,  and  cause  a  thrill  of 
pleasure  in  the  breast  of  benevolence  and  humanity  the 
world  over. 

Mr.  Lincoln  had  strong  domestic  attachments.  His 
bosom  was  full  of  warm  affection.  He  was  so  from 
boyhood.  He  almost  worshipped  his  mother.  His 
young  heart  was  filled  with  grief  when  she  died.  He 
was  sorry,  that,  owing  to  the  privations  of  pioneer  life, 
there  could  be  no  regular  religious  services  at  her 
funeral.  No  church  was  nigh.  No  preacher  could  be 
obtained  in  season.  But  he  remembered  his  mother's 
favorite  minister  in  Kentucky ;  and,  having  learned  to 
write,  he  gladly  employed  his  newly  acquired  accom 
plishment  in  sending  a  letter  to  him,  requesting  that  he 
would,  if  possible,  come  to  Indiana,  and  perform  the 
rites  of  religion  near  the  burial-place  of  his  lamented 
parent.  The  preacher  came.  Abe,  as  he  v^as  called, 
built  a  platform,  and  the  sermon  was  delivered  as 
desired  over  his  mother's  grave.  Some  natural  tears 
were  shed;  but  filial  love  was  gratified,  and  the  boy's 
heart  was  at  rest.  As  with  the  boy,  so  it  was  with  the 
man.  Home  was  his  delight.  His  wife  and  children 
were  his  choice  companions.  Every  honor  he  received, 
every  joy  that  entered  his  own  heart,  he  hastened  to 
15 


170  SERMONS    ON   THE 

share  with  them.  No  wonder,  when  such  a  husband 
and  father  was  suddenly  smitten  down,  his  family  should 
be  overwhelmed  by  the  dreadful  shock.  They  will  have 
the  sympathies  of  the  nation,  and  our  earnest  prayers 
that  God  will  support  them  at  this  hour,  and  impart  to 
them,  in  future  days  of  grief  and  loneliness,  the  con 
solations  of  our  holy  faith. 

In  the  great  calamity  which  has  befallen  us  in  the 
death  of  the  President,  it  is  an  occasion  of  devout 
gratitude  that  the  Secretary  of  State  has  been  spared. 

The  nation  is  under  great  obligations  to  this  officer, 
for  the  manner  in  which  he  has  conducted  our  foreign 
relations  during  the  perilous  crisis  through  which  the 
country  has  passed.  He  has  neither  involved  us  in 
complications  with  other  governments,  nor  lowered  the 
dignity  of  our  own.  He  has  been  wisely  forbearing, 
and,  I  doubt  not,  will  be  wisely  firm.  May  he  and  his 
stricken  son  soon  be  restored  to  health  and  their 
country's  service. 

The  fearful  tragedy  which  has  taken  from  us  the  head 
of  the  nation  is  so  recent,  and  our  grief  so  deep,  that  we 
are  scarcely  prepared  to  speculate  upon  its  causes,  or 
probable  consequences  in  the  future.  The  immediate 
perpetrator  of  the  act  will  doubtless  be  arrested,  and  the 
motives  which  led  to  it  be  fully  ascertained.  If  found 
to  be  in  pursuance  of  a  conspiracy  on  the  part  of  slave 
holders  and  secessionists,  it  will  be  one  of  the  most 
signal  instances  of  folly,  as  well  as  wickedness,  ever 
known  in  the  annals  of  crime.  No  event  could  occur, 
which,  in  the  indignation  it  has  aroused,  could  be  more 
terrible  to  the  conquered  foe.  If  secession  had  been 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  171 

compelled  to  capitulate  before,  it  will  now  be  arrested, 
condemned,  and  executed.  If  slavery  had  received  its 
apparent  death  blow,  the  work  will  now  be  made  sure. 
It  will  be  struck  to  the  heart,  and  pierced  through  and 
through,  nor  left  until  it  is  annihilated  to  the  smallest 
fibre.  If  this  foul  assassination  has  been  done  or  coun 
tenanced  by  men  under  the  bitterness  of  defeat,  they 
will  now  find  the  cup  filled  to  the  brim  with  the  water 
of  gall.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  disposed  to  be  lenient ;  but 
if,  in  their  malignity,  they  clash  the  cup  of  kindness  from 
his  hand,  they  must  not  complain  if  the  contents  of  the 
apocalyptic  vial  should  now  be  poured  out  upon  their 
land,  till  it  shall  consume  every  green  thing,  and  turn 
a  third  part  of  the  waters  into  blood.  If  they  smite 
down  their  best  friend,  they  must  take  the  consequences. 
We  can  only  say,  Thou  art  righteous,  O  God,  who  wast 
and  art,  and  art  to  come,  the  Almighty,  because  thou 
hast  judged  thus.  They  have  shed  the  blood  of  saints 
and  of  martyrs,  and  Thou  hast  given  them  blood  to 
drink,  for  they  are  worthy ! 

I  do  not  doubt  that  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent 
reigneth,  that  He  will  bring  good  out  of  evil,  and  that 
this  tragedy,  like  all  other  events  in  human  history,  will 
be  overruled  for  his  glory.  But  his  judgments  are  a 
great  deep.  His  way  is  in  the  sea,  and  his  path  in  the 
mighty  waters,  and  his  footsteps  are  not  known.  Some 
seem  to  think  the  President  was  in  danger  of  consenting 
to  an  unrighteous  compromise,  and  that  this  was  a 
reason  why  God,  in  his  wise  providence,  permitted  his 
removal.  This  may  be  so.  But  I  had  no  misgivings  on 
this  point.  With  all  his  good  nature,  he  was  firm. 


172  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Wherever  principle  was  involved,  no  man  was  ever  more 
immovable.  His  was  the  wisdom  from  above,  —  first 
pure,  then  peaceable,  gentle,  and  easy  to  be  entreated ; 
full  of  mercy  and  good  fruits  ;  without  partiality  and 
without  hypocrisy.  He  never  would  have  consented  to 
any  civil  disabilities  because  of  color.  The  hand  that 
signed  the  memorable  proclamation  never  would  have 
signed  any  document  that  did  not  contemplate  the  full 
citizenship  of  those  who  have  proved  themselves  the 
worthiest  portion  of  the  Southern  people.  He  was  kind 
and  forgiving,  and  I  love  and  honor  him  all  the  more  for 
it.  There  was  not  a  particle  of  hate  or  revenge  in  his 
soul ;  and  this  is  one  of  the  glories  of  his  character,  and 
will  be  one  of  the  brightest  features  in  his  enduring 
fame.  In  the  dreaded  process  of  reconstruction,  I  do 
not  believe  he  would  have  been  unjust  to  freedom,  or 
have  made  the  slightest  sacrifice  of  principle  for  the  sake 
of  peace.  In  the  settlement  of  difficulties,  he  would 
have  been  guided  by  truth  and  justice  as  well  as  mercy. 
On  no  occasion  would  he  lose  his  temper ;  and  this 
perfect  self-control  was  his  shield  and  buckler.  He 
might  have  met  representatives  from  the  Southern  people 
pleasantly,  perhaps  told  a  story  or  two,  but  there  would 
have  been  no  parley  with  treason,  no  yielding  to  seces 
sion  ;  and  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion  would  have  been 
put  down  forever. 

I  have  confidence  in  his  successor.  President  John 
son's  opinions  and  policy  are  known,  and  will  be  approved 
by  the  loyal  people.  There  is  now  a  roused  but  I  believe 
a  healthful  public  sentiment,  which  will  not  be  satisfied 
until  rebellion  is  exterminated  and  consumed,  root  and 
branch,  and  its  blossoms  go  up  as  the  dust. 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  173 

Above  all,  let  us  have  confidence  in  God.  How  won 
derful  are  the  ways  of  Providence  !  Who  can  fail  to  see 
the  hand  of  the  Lord,  and  to  stand  in  silent  and  grate 
ful  adoration,  as  he  goes  forth  to  the  accomplishment  of 
his  purposes,  in  a  way  which  we  know  not,  and  by 
means  which  seem  mysterious  and  awful  ?  The  assassi 
nation  of  the  President  occurred  on  the  day  which  is  usu 
ally  observed  in  commemoration  of  the  Saviour's  death. 
The  enemies  of  our  Lord  thought  that  by  the  cross 
Christianity  would  be  destroyed.  So  the  authors  of  this 
fearful  tragedy  thought  thus  to  crucify  and  entomb  our 
national  life,  and  to  crush  freedom  and  humanity  through 
that  mangled  form.  But,  my  friends,  to-day  is  the  day 
of  our  Saviour's  resurrection ;  and,  as  Christianity  gath 
ered  fresh  energies  in  the  sepulchre,  and  rose  to  new 
ness  of  life,  so  I  believe  that  the  spirit  and  principles 
which  have  been  embodied  in  our  beloved  and  lament 
ed  President  shall  come  forth  from  his  freshly-opened 
grave  with  greater  vigor  than  ever.  If  any  are  weeping 
over  the  tomb  of  freedom,  or  of  any  of  those  principles 
for  which  our  soldiers  have  fought,  and  for  which  our 
Chief  Magistrate  has  been  called  to  lay  down  his  life,  let 
me  say  to  you,  Dry  up  your  tears.  Ye  that  are  walking 
to  Emmaus,  silent  and  sad,  come  back  to  Jerusalem. 
The  angel  of  the  Lord  hath  appeared,  though  in  a  strange 
form,  and  rolled  away  the  stone  from  the  door  of  the 
sepulchre. 

The  tragedy  which  has  occurred  is  a  most  impressive 
warning  of  the  nature  and  evil  of  sin.  This  assassin 
was  a  young  man,  but  what  a  finish  of  depravity  he 
has  reached !  Reckless  of  a  wife's  bereavement,  of 


174  SERMONS   ON   THE 

children's  tears,  of  a  nation's  grief;  reckless  of  God, 
and  reckless  of  himself.  Such  recklessness  is  traceable 
in  part  to  his  diseased  imagination.  He  lived  on  airy 
and  depraved  fancies.  He  was  an  actor,  and  craved  for 
some  tragic  scene.  He  imagined  it  quite  theatrical,  no 
doubt,  to  utter  the  words,  "  Sic  semper  tyrannis,"  as 
he  sprang,  brandishing  his  dagger,  from  the  scene  of 
murder.  It  is  >:nceable,  also,  to  the  excitement  of 
liquor;  but  it  all  comes  from  sin.  This  is  the  root  of  the 
whole.  The  heart's  depravity  grows  up  sometimes  in 
the  form  of  treason,  and  sometimes  shows  itself  in  other 
forms,  —  profaneness,  drunkenness,  and  murder;  but  it 
is  itself  the  father  of  all  evil.  Whoever  cherishes  it  in 
any  form  has  the  devil,  and  hell  itself,  in  his  own  soul. 
Depraved  passions  within  are  sure  to  tear  and  rend  their 
victim,  or  break  forth  in  flames  of  unquenchable  fire. 

Let  me,  in  conclusion,  refer  to  one  of  the  most 
interesting  incidents  in  the  history  of  our  departed 
President.  At  the  consecration  of  the  Soldiers'  Ceme 
tery  at  Gettysburg,  after  the  eloquent  address  of  Mr. 
Everett  (alas  !  that  he,  too,  is  gone),  Mr.  Lincoln  made 
a  few  most  impressive  remarks.  He  said  that  the  best 
way  to  honor  the  heroes  that  had  fallen  on  that  bloody 
field  was  to  consecrate  ourselves  more  fully  to  the  cause 
for  which  they  bled.  There  was  another  thought  within, 
he  afterwards  remarked,  in  a  private  conversation ;  and 
it  was,  that  he  should  himself  consecrate  his  own  heart 
to  God.  He  hoped,  he  said,  that  through  divine 
assistance  he  had  done  this ;  and  thus  had  arisen  in  his 
bosom  the  sweet,  precious,  sublime  emotions  of  a  new 
and  spiritual  life.  It  is  well,  my  friends,  that  we  should 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT   LIXCOLN.  175 

manifest  our  grief  under  this  great  and  oppressive 
bereavement :  we  cannot  and  ought  not  to  restrain  our 
tears.  It  is  right  that  tokens  of  mourning  should  be 
hung  out  from  every  dwelling.  The  whole  nation  and 
foreign  lands  will  unite  in  doing  honor  to  the  distin 
guished  dead.  But  no  higher  honor  can  be  paid  to  the 
memory  of  Abraham  Lincoln  than  to  imitate  his  example 
in  giving  ourselves  more  fully  to  the  cause  in  which  he 
fell  a  martyr,  and  individually  in  prayer,  and  on  bended 
knee,  to  consecrate  our  own  heart  to  God. 


REV.   HENRY   W.   FOOTE. 


ADDRESS  SPOKEN  AT  KING'S  CHAPEL, 

WEDNESDAY,  APRIL  19,  1865. 


WE  are  gathered  here  in  this  solemn  service,  that  we 
may  have  the  last  sad  satisfaction  of  joining  with  a 
whole  nation  in  paying  every  rite  of  respect  and  honor 
and  veneration  to  him  whose  mortal  part  is  this  day 
committed  to  the  tomb.  Our  hearts,  so  recently,  alas  ! 
throbbing  with  an  exultant  sense  of  security  in  the 
blessed  assurance  of  approaching  peace,  have  been 
quickly  clothed  again  in  the  habit  of  anguish  so  famil 
iar,  but  now  in  a  sackcloth  blacker  than  the  loss  of 
many  battles  could  have  brought,  whose  hues  of  mourn 
ing  must  hereafter  darken  all  our  lives.  Not  even  vic 
tory  can  come  with  notes  so  triumphant  as  to  hush  the 
wail  of  our  grief  for  the  leader  who  gathered  our  armies 
and  chose  our  generals,  and  with  patient  heart  brought 
us  to  the  very  gates  of  entire  triumph ;  nor  even  can 
God's  whitest  angel  of  peace  return,  save  with  tear- 
dimmed  eyes,  and  the  disquiet  of  a  mighty  sorrow. 
But  the  very  greatness  and  permanence  of  our  emotions 
forbid  us  from  trying  to  put  them  into  speech.  In  this 

(179) 


180  SERMONS    ON   THE 

hour,  the  sob  of  a  nation's  overwhelming  bereavement 
fills  our  ears  and  our  hearts,  and  best  tells  the  story  of 
our  loss.  And,  under  the  shadow  and  horror  of  a  gigan 
tic  crime,  we  would  fain  learn  the  mysterious  lesson  of 
Providence  in  silence.  "Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am 
God."  Yet  these  services  of  sacred  commemoration 
would  seem  prematurely  closed,  did  we  not  try  to  gather 
up  their  meaning  into  brief  and  simple  words.  We  need 
to  go  out  from  this  house  of  prayer  into  an  atmosphere 
of  faith  and  prayer ;  not  into  deeper  and  more  hopeless 
grief.  And  he,  —  the  good,  the  great  man,  whom  we 
desire  to  honor  by  doing  as  he  would  have  us, —  could  he 
open  those  lips  forever  silent,  would  bid  us  carry  hence 
stronger  and  higher  purposes  with  which  to  withstand 
the  cloud  of  sorrow  that  has  settled  down  over  the  land 
he  loved  so  well.  He  would  bid  us  say  little  of  him, 
but  much  of  the  great  cause.  He  would  bid  us  forget 
the  murderous  deed  by  which  one  foul  hand  has  brought 
darkness  upon  twenty  million  loyal  hearts,  and  remem 
ber  only  that  in  this  place  we  have  been  uplifted,  by 
communion  with  God's  Spirit,  into  a  truer  allegiance  to 
the  principles  of  freedom  and  justice,  of  mercy  and 
peace,  as  whose  embodiment  and  representative  he 
stood  before  the  world.  We  cannot,  indeed,  turn  thus 
aside  from  the  contemplation  of  those  qualities  which 
made  him  what  he  was.  The  man  stands  before  us, 
whichever  way  \ve  turn,  so  identified  with  these  great 
and  uplifting  themes,  that,  when  we  mention  them,  we 
must  perforce  think  of  him.  He  stands  forever  in  his 
tory  their  illustrious  representative,  giving  them  honor, 
and  receiving  honor  from  them. 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  181 

Not  here  in  the  short  space  which  remains  for  us  ere 
we  rise,  and  go  in  spirit  with  those  who  bear  what  was 
mortal  of  our  President  to  his  burial,  —  nor  now,  when 
we  are  in  the  very  presence  of  death,  can  eulogies  be 
spoken.  That  can  be  safely  left  for  History,  who  will 
find  time  enough  in  succeeding  generations,  and  room 
enough  on  the  scanty  roll  of  her  greatest  names,  where 
his  henceforward  stands  forever  written. 

But,  even  here  and  now,  the  thought  of  what  he  did, 
or  had  a  part  in,  —  of  what  he  was,  —  and  of  what  he 
will  be  in  the  influence  of  example,  is  in  all  our  hearts. 
Out  of  the  fulness  of  such  thoughts,  let  us  try  to  gather 
up  the  lessons  which  we  wish  to  carry  hence. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  the  sixteenth  President  of  the 
United  States,  will  be  remembered  as  long  as  the  annals 
of  this  nation  endure,  as  the  ruler,  who,  under  God, 
guided  us,  through  four  years  of  a  terrible  civil  war,  to 
the  very  borders  of  the  peaceful  restoration  of  national 
unity,  under  the  one  lawful  government  of  the  land. 
How  the  heart  goes  back  (as  we  think  of  this,  his 
mighty  work)  over  all  the  varying  anxieties  and  mis 
givings, —  the  public  calamities  and  the  private  sorrows, 
—  the  alternations  of  success  and  defeat, —  the  vast  pro 
blems  of  public  policy,  —  the  intricate  relations  with 
foreign  powers,  —  which  have  filled  the  years  with  a 
weary  weight.  They  have  been  hard  to  carry,  for  us  all. 
They  have  seemed  longer  to  those  who  were  in  the  fierce 
current  and  whirling  eddies  of  the  time  —  as  who  was 
not?  —  longer  than  a  lifetime  of  peace.  But  he  who 
was  held  responsible  for  everything  which  went  wrong; 
who  stood  in  the  central  place  of  all,  and  held  all  the 
16 


182  SERMONS   ON   THE 

countless  threads  in  his  hand;  yes,  who  gathered  them 
all  up  in  his  heart,  —  with  what  a  crushing  burden  have 
the  years  rested  upon  him  I  No  wonder  that  men  said, 
the  other  day,  at  Richmond,  that  he  looked  utterly  worn 
out.  The  wonder  is,  how  with  twenty  lives  he  could 
have  endured  so  long.  The  most  responsible  place  in 
the  gift  of  any  people  it  devolved  upon  him  to  fill,  when 
its  responsibilities  were  increased  five  hundred  fold ; 
when  friends  were  few,  and  hostile  critics  too  many  to 
be  numbered,  and  all  the  way  before  us  was  dark  with 
unknown  perils.  And  he  has  filled  it,  through  good 
report  and  through  evil  report,  silencing  his  opponents, 
one  by  one,  and  changing  them  to  friends,  until,  when 
he  died,  no  tongue  was  mute  to  speak  his  praise.  Has 
there  ever  before  been  a  recorded  instance  of  a  man 
coming  to  power  without  experience,  and  almost  un 
known,  guiding  a  nation  through  the  shock  and  strain  of 
a  vast  war,  welding  them  continually  into  greater  unanimi 
ty  of  purpose,  and  gaining  constantly  on  their  respect 
and  affection  ?  In  all  history,  he  is  the  first  example. 
It  will  stand  written  against  his  name,  that  he  was  the 
means,  through  God,  of  arousing  a  great  people  to  a 
real  national  life.  Look  at  it  beforehand,  and  we 
should  have  called  it  impossible.  There  was  a  time  —  and 
not  so  long  ago  —  when  men  doubted  whether,  under  our 
institutions,  there  could  be  a  genuine  loyalty.  Surely 
he  was  a  providential  man,  to  whom  it  was  given  to 
wake  that  feeling  in  the  public  heart.  He  has  waked  it, 
and  kept  it  living,  because  it  was  in  the  deepest  place  of 
his  own  heart.  It  spoke  in  that  call,  after  the  fall  of 
Sumter,  which  made  the  nation  spring  to  its  feet.  It 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  183 

held  him  up,  when,  through  the  watches  of  that  July 
night,  he  heard  the  ceaseless  tramp,  across  the  Long 
Bridge,  of  the  ai*my  retreating  from  Bull-Run.  And 
through  many  reverses  since,  when  hope  deferred  made 
the  heart  sick,  (need  I  name  the  battles  and  retreats 
which  are  written  on  our  remembrance  in  characters  of 
blood  ?)  it  sustained  him  unfaltering. 

The  people  wrought  in  him,  and  he  again  wrought  in 
the  people,"  a  sublime  faith  in  our  national  ideas.  And 
that  was  work  enough  for  any  man.  However  men  may 
differ  about  the  v\risdom  or  expediency  of  this  measure 
or  of  that,  —  and  it  would  be  strange  if  in  such  a  time  a 
man  had  not  committed  grave  mistakes  again  and  again, 
—  none  can  doubt  that  he  has  done  this  one  transcend 
ent  work  of  strengthening  the  spirit  of  nationality,  with 
out  which  all  else  were  vain  ;  with  which  all  else  must 
in  the  end  go  well.  This  being  granted,  all  the  detail 
of  questions  about  special  acts  can  be  let  pass.  It  would 
be  an  impertinence  to  descend  to  them  in  this  hour  of 
our  solemn  mourning.  It  is  enough  to  claim  our  ever 
lasting  gratitude  that  he  has  done  this  work :  and 
especially  because  this  national  spirit,  so  purified  and 
deepened,  has  become  more  and  more  imbued  with  the 
ideas  of  justice  and  liberty.  He,  indeed,  would  be  the 
last  to  claim  that  he  led  the  way  in  this.  He  has  the 
truer  glory  of  having  followed  the  popular  will,  and  of 
having  caused  these  ideas,  already  accepted  by  the 
people,  to  become  a  part  of  their  fundamental  law.  And 
so  it  comes,  that,  wherever  the  word  Freedom  is  spoken, 
there  his  name  will  be  uttered  with  benedictions. 
Through  him,  the  starry  flag  has  come  to  shine 


184  SERMONS    ON    THE 

undimmed  by  oppression.  That  hapless  race,  who  sat 
in  bondage  so  long,  have  learned  to  recognize  him  as 
their  great  deliverer,  and  to  lift  their  hands  in  prayer  for 
him  toward  heaven.  They  will  feel  that  now  they  have 
lost  their  truest  friend.  If  we  carry  from  these  funeral 
rites  a  quicker  heart  for  the  demands  of  justice,  —  a 
more  living  love  of  human  freedom,  and  a  steadfast  pur 
pose  to  do  our  part  in  the  great  work  of  re-organizing 
the  society  of  the  South  on  a  truer  basis,  — we  shall  bear 
the  best  witness  to  the  reality  of  our  sorrow,  and  the 
sincerity  of  our  affection. 

But  this  work,  wrought  on  the  spirit  of  the  people  and 
in  our  fundamental  law,  could  never  have  been  accom 
plished  save  by  such  a  man  as  he.  A  man  of  the  people, 
through  and  through,  he  has  had  entire  faith  in  the 
people.  And  this  faith  has  been  his  tower  of  strength. 
Out  of  the  hardships  of  his  early  training,  he  brought  a 
heart  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  common  people. 
Add  to  this  the  qualities  peculiarly  developed  by  that 
wild,  frontier  life,  and  which  were  his  to  an  eminent 
degree  by  natural  endowment ;  that  strong,  plain,  good 
sense ;  that  practical  shrewdness ;  the  power  of  ready 
adaptation  to  unforeseen  emergencies  :  add  that  capa 
city  for  continual  growth  in  character,  which  he  has 
clearly  manifested,  and  those  qualities  which  have  been 
the  very  ground- work  of  his  character ;  the  absolute 
honesty,  the  brave  simplicity,  the  manly  tenacity  of  pur 
pose,  the  power  of  true  and  single  devotion  to  a  great 
cause,  —  and  where,  in  all  the  records  of  the  past,  has 
ever  risen  one  who  seemed  more  providentially  prepared 
for  his  great  place,  than  he?  Yet,  with  all  this,  so  far 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  185 

was  ho  from  being  stern,  as  we  are  apt  to  think  a  leader 
must  be,  —  so  far  from  the  rugged  hardness  of  character 
which  we  attribute  to  the  rude  civilization  where  his 
boyhood  and  youth  were  spent,  —  that  we  have  felt  at 
times  that  he  erred  on  the  side  of  gentleness.  The 
object  of  such  contumely  and  violent  hate  as  no  other  in 
our  history  has  ever  had  to  bear,  it  never  cast  even  a 
shadow  over  his  spirit.  What  nobleness  of  heart,  what 
grand  magnanimity,  has  it  not  required  to  keep 
him  utterly  free  from  words  of  unkindness  or  thoughts 
of  hate,  so  that  the  words  of  kindly  good-will  toward  his 
enemies,  which  he  spoke  on  the  last  afternoon  of  his  life, 
came  out  of  the  transparent  depths  of  a  soul  into  which 
no  bitterness  had  ever  entered !  And  so  it  came,  that, 
more  and  more,  the  nation  has  felt  that  it  could  trust 
him  to  the  uttermost,  and  love  him  to  the  fullest.  Here 
in  our  need,  was  a  genuine  man,  —  when  "  a  man  was 
more  precious  than  fine  gold,  even  a  man  than  the 
precious  gold  of  Ophir."  Gradually  all  hostile  tongues 
have  been  stilled,  and  those  who  thought  him  too  fast 
or  too  slow,  learned  to  think  his  judgment  safe  and  wise. 
So,  too,  with  that  criticism  of  his  homely  Western  speech, 
—  his  unsophisticated  ways,  —  as  beneath  the  dignity  of 
his  great  office.  We  have  learned  that  character  is  a 
jewel  beyond  price,  —  and  having  that,  we  have  more 
and  more  learned  to  be  grateful. 

Shall  I  speak  of  those  other  qualities  which  so 
strongly  marked  his  character  ;  of  that  fearlessness 
which  could  walk  composedly  in  the  streets  of  Rich 
mond  with  a  meagre  body-guard  of  six  sailors;  and 
which,  in  a  different  manifestation,  has  enabled  him  to 
16* 


186  SERMONS   ON   THE 

stand  again  and  again,  in  the  four  years  past,  almost 
alone  in  unpopular  solitude  on  that  height  of  place 
where  the  cold  Mind  of  criticism  blows  sharp  and  keen ; 
or  of  that  sublime  self-forgetfulness  which  labored  on 
for  the  single  end  of  his  country's  welfare,  which  never 
sought  to  lay  hold  on  the  laurels  of  others,  which  mod 
estly  disclaimed  his  own  honors  ?  Do  not  those  gen 
erous  words  yet  ring  in  our  ears,  in  which  he  put  away 
from  him  whatever  credit  of  recent  triumphs  it  was 
sought  to  give  him,  saying  that  he  had  only  been  a 
spectator;  that  all  the  praise  was  due  to  the  generals 
and  the  army  ?  Or  shall  I  say  how  his  conviction  of 
the  right  of  our  cause  sustained  him  in  our  darkest 
hours,  so  that  that  was  true  of  him  which  John  Maid- 
stone  said  of  Cromwell,  "  He  was  a  strong  man  in  the 
dark  perils  of  war  ;  in  the  high  places  of  the  field,  hope 
shone  in  him  like  a  pillar  of  fire  when  it  had  gone  out 
in  the  others"  ?  Shall  I  speak  of  that  simple  religious 
conviction  which  has  manifestly  been  deepening  in  his 
heart,  till  it  uttered  itself  in  that  Inaugural  where  even 
English  eyes  have  read  a  sincere  humility,  and  a  true 
religious  spirit  ?  No  !  these  things  are  too  sacred  to  be 
touched  with  careless  hand.  In  the  silence  of  the  heart 
let  us  meditate  on  them  ;  and  pardon  me  that  I  have 
even  put  into  words  the  thoughts  which  are  the  reason 
•of  our  deepest  grief  to-day. 

I  do  not  attempt  to  draw  the  portraiture  of  this  great 
ruler  whom  we  have  lost.  My  heart  would  not  let  me 
do  it.  You  do  not  need  to  hear  it.  He  stands  before 
us  all,  as  he  has  stamped  himself  ineffaceably  on  the 
pure  silver  of  the  national  heart,  all  fluent  and  melted 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  187 

in  the  fervid  heats  of  this  time  of  fiery  war.  Six  days 
ago  I  listened  to  an  earnest  voice  which  claimed  for  him, 
that  his  name  stood  side  by  side  with  the  highest  on 
our  history  ;  that,  as  one  is  called  the  Father  of  his 
Country,  so  his  successor  should  be  known  hereafter  as 
the  Saviour  of  his  Country.  To-day  the  sorrow  of  a 
whole  people  gives  him  the  name,  and  the  mysterious 
consecration  of  death  sets  him  apart  forever  from  all 
carping  tongues  or  differing  thoughts.  He  belongs  to 
us  all,  —  a  part  of  our  glory  ;  and  even  in  our  grief  we 
lift  our  hearts  in  thanksgiving  that  he  has  been  ours  so 
long.  Nor  should  we  let  the  deed  of  violence  which 
took  him  from  us  cause  us  to  forget  still  to  be  grateful 
that  he  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  dawn  breaking  into 
glorious  day  ;  to  know  that  his  fidelity,  his  patience,  his 
bearing  of  weary  burdens  for  us  all,  was  to  reap  its  great 
reward  ;  that  though,  like  the  great  leader  of  the  chosen 
people,  he  has  died  on  the  very  verge  of  the  promised 
land,  to  his  eyes,  like  those  of  Moses,  it  was  permitted 
to  see  the  future  which  the  Lord  would  give  to  a 
nation  chastened  by  suffering,  and  endeared  to  Him 
by  adversity. 

Nor  let  us  fail  to  join  in  our  thought  of  him,  as  he 
would  have  us,  all  that  innumerable  company  of  wit 
nesses,  whose  blood  has  been  given  for  our  national  life. 
Our  heroic  dead !  from  the  general  to  the  private,  this 
day  we  remember  them  all  in  our  solemn  commemora 
tion.  In  our  warmest  love,  in  our  deepest  prayers,  they 
hold  a  place  sacred  and  imperishable.  That  holy  seal 
of  martyrdom  is  now  set  on  them,  and  on  him  whose 
word  they  obeyed.  We  bring  hither  our  proud  sorrow, 


188  SERMONS    ON   THE 

our  reverent  affection,  that  it  may  be  consecrated  by  the 
Spirit  of  God ;  and  we  do  but  repeat  the  voice  of  all 
the  future  when  we  say,  "  Honor,  honor,  honor,  eternal 
honor  to  their  names." 

But  in  this  hour,  we  turn,  even  from  the  purest 
earthly  fame,  to  the  consolations  which  we  need.  For 
the  greatness  of  the  honor  tells  us  of  the  greatness  of 
the  loss ;  and  we  must  have  the  faith  that  it  is  yet  God's 
will.  Blessed  be  the  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
that  we  do  know,  under  mystery  and  terror,  that  still  we 
can  recognize  in  him  a  God  of  infinite  wisdom  and 
perfect  love.  The  body  may  perish,  but  the  soul  lives 
forever  and  forever  ;  and  He  has  higher  ways  of  service 
for  his  faithful  servant,  than  any  ways  of  earth.  Nor 
will  He,  who  suffers  not  "  one  of  his  little  ones  to 
perish,"  let  the  long  agony  of  this  nation  be  in  vain. 
He  may  call  his  workman  hence ;  but  the  work  of  God 
goes  on,  and  is  sure. 

The  long  procession  of  a  nation  in  sorrow  bears  him 
with  reverent  hands  to  his  grave  and  our  hearts  yearn 
to  bring  him  the  offerings  of  our  love  and  rever 
ence. 

That  we  may  best  remember  him,  we  should  carry  a 
deeper  purpose  into  our  own  lives.  I  hear  that  voice 
which  spoke  at  Gettysburg,  and  the  words  seem 
addressed  to  our  own  hearts  this  hour.  "  The  world," 
said  he,  "  will  very  little  note,  nor  long  remember,  what 
we  say  here ;  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did 
here.  It  is  for  us,  the  living,  rather,  to  le  dedicated 
here  to  the  unfinished  work  that  they  have  thus  far  so 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  189 

nobly  carried  on.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here 
dedicated  to  the  great  task  remaining  before  us ;  that 
from  these  honored  dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to 
that  cause  for  which  they  here  gave  the  last  full  measure 
of  devotion;  that  we  here  highly  resolve  that  these 
dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain ;  that  the  nation  shall, 
under  God,  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom ;  and  that 
government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people, 
shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

In  a  true  devotion  to  our  dear  country,  —  the  mother 
of  us  all,  —  let  us,  standing  here,  as  it  were,  by  the  bier 
of  our  chief  magistrate,  consecrate  ourselves  anew  to  her 
love  and  service.  Let  us  resolve  to  give  a  true  support 
to  him  who  is  called  to  that  lofty  place  by  such  an  awful 
messenger.  Let  not  the  shock  of  our  bereavement  cause 
us  to  forget  the  Christian  spirit  which  breathed  six 
weeks  ago  in  that  Inaugural. 

"With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  —  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
—  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in  ;  to  bind 
up  the  nation's  wounds ;  to  care  for  those  who  shall 
have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  their  widows  and  orphans. 
And  with  all  this,  let  us  strive  after  a  just  and  lasting 
peace  among  ourselves,  and  with  all  nations." 

With  these  words  of  peace  yet,  as  it  were,  on  his  lips, 
he  has  gone  into  the  higher  kingdom  of  perfect  peace, 
where  the  weary  weight  of  cares,  borne  for  our  sakes,  is 
laid  aside  forever.  We  would  not  sit  by  his  grave 
desolate  in  our  tears  ;  we  would  be  grateful  that  He 
whose  cross  is  to  us  the  sign  of  hope,  has  assured  to  us 


190  SERMONS. 

the  promise  of  eternal  life.  And,  as  we  look  up  after 
that  departing  presence,  with  the  cry,  "  My  father,  my 
father  !  the  chariots  of  Israel  and  the  horsemen  thereof," 
it  shall  not  be  in  despair,  but  in  the  spirit  of  perfect 
trust. 


REV.   F.   D.   HUN  TING  TON. 


EMMANUEL     CHURCH. 


It  being  the  Easter  Communion,  after  an  extended 
service,  in  which  the  liturgical  and  musical  portions 
were  very  rich  and  solemn,  the  rector,  Dr.  Huntington, 
addressed  the  congregation  from  the  chancel,  substantially 
as  follows : 

WE  have  finished  a  week  of  which  it  seems  not  too 
much  to  say,  that,  in  the  concurrence  of  public  glory  and 
public  crimes,  it  is  without  precedent  or  parallel  in  the 
human  history  of  the  world.  No  doubt,  as  these  strangely 
contrasted  events  have  been  announced  to  us,  first  filling 
the  land  with  a  joy  that  could  scarcely  find  moderate 
expressions  at  the  sudden  prospect  of  an  early,  success 
ful  and  righteous  termination  to  four  years  of  bitter 
alienation  and  bloody  strife,  and  then  overwhelming  it 
with  alarm,  affliction,  and  indignation,  equally  sudden 
and  even  more  unspeakable,  at  that  appalling  act  of 
infamy  that  has  struck  the  civil  head  of  the  nation  from 
his  seat  and  his  life  together, — many  of  us  have  inquired 
within  ourselves  whether  there  is  any  one  thought,  or 
truth,  or  doctrine,  large  enough,  powerful  enough,  and 

17  (193) 


194  SERMONS  ON  THE 

reconciling  enough  to  subdue  this  awful  sense  of  discord, 
and  to  harmonize  the  terrible  contradictions,  under  one 
benignant  law  of  love.  Is  there  any  solid  shelter,  any 
holy  pavilion,  where  we  can  take  refuge,  and  find  these 
distracting  transactions  falling  into  place  as  parts  of  one 
perfect  plan  of  God?  And  probably  many  of  you  have 
already  found  a  consoling  answer  to  that  question. 

The  solemn  path  through  which  the  holy  evangelists, 
in  their  narratives  of  our  Saviour's  last  days,  and  before 
he  suffered,  have  led  us,  to  his  sacrifice,  to  the  sealing 
of  his  grave,  and  to  its  miraculous  opening  as  on  this 
morning,  has  brought  us  to  just  that  comforting  and 
immortal  truth,  —  deep  enough,  high  enough,  and  wide 
enough  to  take  in  and  interpret  every  one  of  these 
conflicting  emotions.  For  there  is  no  possible  joy  of 
deliverance,  or  jubilee  of  victory,  where  the  feeling  of 
both  public  and  personal  sin,  and  the  need  of  a  Redeemer, 
does  not  pursue  us.  Nor  is  there  any  secret  heaviness, 
nor  any  national  mourning,  where  the  cross  of  Christ 
will  not  support  us,  and  his  resurrection  from  the  dead 
re-assure  us.  Here,  then,  is  the  reconciliation.  Here 
is  the  complete  and  sufficient  declaration  of  our  peace. 
Here  is  solid  rock,  be  the  -earth  never  so  unquiet ! 
There  is  nothing  we  have  felt,  as  citizens  or  as  men, 
that  may  not  find  its  needed  ministry  in  the  scenes  where 
we  have  walked  and  lingered,  —  Bethany,  the  Mount  of 
Olives,  Gethsemane,  Calvary,  and  the  broken  sepulchre. 
In  the  most  exultant  emotion  of  triumph  at  a  re-estab 
lished  government  we  have  seen  the  Prince  of  Peace 
marching,  with  palms  and  hosannas,  in  front  of  the 
great  procession  of  kings  and  commanders.  The  in- 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  195 

tensest  and  most  loyal  patriotism  is  sanctioned  by  Jesus 
weeping  over  Jerusalem.  Every  bereaved  household  is 
solaced  by  going  to  Bethany,  where  Lazarus  was  raised, 
and  by  hearing  the  Son  of  Mary  commend  his  mother 
to  the  beloved  St.  John,  amidst  the  agonies  of  the 
crucifixion. 

When  we  lift  up  our  hearty  praises  and  thanksgivings, 
as  we  must  day  by  day,  that  the  God  of  Liberty  has 
struck  off  the  bonds  from  four  millions  of  enslaved  men, 
and  set  our  whole  country  free  from  that  wretched 
wrong,  how  can  we  help  remembering  that  it  is  all  the 
working  out,  at  last,  of  his  infinite  mercy  by  Whom  all 
the  families  of  men  are  made  of  one  blood,  Who  shed 
his  own  most  precious  blood  in  sacrifice  for  all  alike, — 
the  poorest  and  weakest  and  darkest  as  much  as  any, 
and  whose  Christian  service,  as  our  daily  collect  says,  is 
alone  "  perfect  freedom"  ?  Nay,  more,  we  learn  how  to 
look  on  this  appalling  assassination,  and  every  attendant 
enormity,  —  leaving  retribution  to  divine  and  human 
courts, — when  we  hear  the  Crucified,  who  was  anointed 
to  be  betrayed,  praying  for  his  murderers,  "Father, 
forgive  them,  for  they  know  not  what  they  do!"  When 
we  turn  our  eyes  forward  into  the  future,  with  whatever 
misgivings  or  anxieties,  who  can  deny  or  doubt  an 
instant  that  all  our  best  and  sure  hopes  rest  on  the  one 
inestimable  and  transcendent  fact,  which  we  are  now 
commemorating,  that  the  Blessed  and  Holy  and  Al 
mighty  Lord  has  so  loved  us  as  to  give  himself  for  us, 
the  just  for  the  unjust,  bringing  life  and  immortality  to 
light  ?  Our  only  safety  from  coming  evil,  as  a  people, 
is  in  righteousness ;  and  that  not  of  our  own  obtaining, 


196  SERMONS   ON   THE 

but  obtained  for  us  by  the  wonderful  grace  of  an  infinite 
and  everlasting  Mediator.  Therefore,  dear  friends,  we 
do  and  we  will,  to-day,  joy  and  rejoice  in  Christ  Jesus, 
the  resurrection  and  the  life,  by  whom  we  have  received 
the  atonement ;  who  hath  broken  down  the  middle  wall 
of  partition,  reconciling  man  with  his  brother  man,  and 
with  his  Father,  God.  For  God  commendeth  his  love 
to  us  in  that,  while  we  were  yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for 
us.  And  if  we  are  reconciled  by  his  death,  much  more, 
being  reconciled,  shall  we  be  saved  by  his  life. 


REV.  WARREN  H.  CUD  WORTH. 


DANIEL     IF.-35. 


ALL  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE  EARTH  ARE  REPUTED  AS  NOTH 
ING  :   AND  HE  DOETH  ACCORDING  TO  HlS  WlLL  IN  THE  ARMIES  OF 

HEAVEN  AND  AMONG  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  THE  EARTH;  AND  NONE 
CAN  STAY  His  HAND  OR  SAY  UNTO  HIM,  "  WHAT  DOEST  THOU?" 


WE  would  have  celebrated  the  joyous  festival  of 
Easter  to-day.  Generous  hands  had  provided  the  flow 
ers  that  were  to  adorn  our  altar,  and  tuneful  voices  had 
made  ready  the  anthem  that  was  to  hail  the  resurrection 
of  our  Lord  from  the  dead.  Next  to  Christmas,  this  is 
the  great  feast-day  of  the  Church  ;  and  believers  of  all 
denominations  are  uniting  to  appreciate  and  observe  it 
in  a  proper  manner. 

But,  yesterday  morning,  like  a  clap  of  thunder  from 
clear  skies,  came  the  appalling  announcement,  "  The 
President  has  been  assassinated."  "  Impossible;  it  can- 
not  be ! "  we  all  exclaimed,  because  we  felt  it  should  not 
be,  it  must  not  be.  But  when  it  was  re-affirmed,  and 
the  official  statement,  spread  before  our  strained  and 
eager  eyes,  forced  the  unwilling  conviction  upon  us  that 
it  was,  alas  !  too  true,  how  startling  and  dreadful  the 
blow !  We  all  felt  personally  bereaved.  About  our 

(199) 


200  SERMONS   ON   THE 

streets  the  people  walked  with  mournful  faces,  as  though 
each  one  was  bowed  down  by  a  personal  sorrow.  Wo 
all  seemed  to  have  lost  a  father,  a  brother,  a  dear  bosom- 
friend.  How  much  we  loved,  how  much  we  trusted, 
how  much  we  leaned  upon  him,  we  never  knew  before. 
How  can  we  bear  it  ?  what  shall  we  do  without  him?  what 
could  have  provoked  such  an  atrocious  crime  ?  what  does 
it  all  mean  ?  Such  were  some  of  the  questionings  which 
darted  through  all  minds,  and  formed  the  burden  of 
conversation  passing  from  lip  to  lip. 

We  can  now  understand,  somewhat,  how  the  apostles 
felt  when  our  Lord  was  arrested,  and  cruelly  put  to 
death.  They  had  leaned  wholly  upon  Him,  supposing 
that  it  was  He  who  should  have  redeemed  Israel ;  and 
when  He  was  taken  from  them,  and  ignominiously 
crucified  as  a  common  malefactor,  no  \vonder  they  were 
scattered,  each  one  to  his  own  place,  leaving  Him 
alone. 

The  week  through  which  we  have  just  passed  has 
not  been  unlike  that  Holy  or  Passion  Week,  which,  in 
Judaea  of  old,  was  so  eventful  to  the  Saviour  and  his 
disciples. 

It  began  in  triumph  and  rejoicing,  not  only  because 
Richmond  had  fallen,  but  because  Lee  and  his  army 
had  been  compelled  to  surrender,  prisoners  of  war,  and 
our  country  was  saved  at  last.  It  seemed  impossible 
to  express  the  universal  exultation.  Churches  were 
thronged  ;  cannon  boomed  from  the  forts  ;  assemblies, 
gathered  from  all  classes  of  society,  were  extemporized 
in  hall  and  mart ;  flags  fluttered  on  every  breeze  ; 
buildings  were  gayly  decorated  with  the  emblems  of 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  201 

rejoicing ;  schools  were  dismissed ;  stores  and  work 
shops  closed  ;  bonfires,  illuminations,  and  fireworks 
brightened  the  night,  and  every  loyal  heart  was  full  of 
happiness.  But,  alas  !  it  ended  like  the  week  of  sor 
rows,  in  gloom  and  blood.  And  is  it  not  strange  that 
Good  Friday  was  the  day,  of  all  days  in  the  year, 
chosen  by  the  murderer  for  his  infamous  deed  ?  It  is 
one  of  those  remarkable  historical  coincidences,  which, 
whether  we  will  or  not,  challenge  observation  and  cause 
remark  ;  and,  no  doubt,  could  our  President  have  spoken 
after  he  was  shot,  he  would  have  forgiven  the  cowardly 
perpetrator  of  this  inhuman  act,  and  rounded  the  par 
allel  with  a  final  and  complete  imitation  of  our  Lord's 
example. 

Let  us  not  imagine  that  the  evil  of  this  deplorable 
event  is  unmitigated  and  unrelieved;  for,  in  the  worst 
condition  of  human  society,  and  amid  the  most  disastrous 
circumstances  connected  with  human  affairs,  "  God  is 
our  refuge  and  strength,  a  very  present  help  in  trouble. 
Therefore  will  not  we  fjar,  though  the  earth  be  removed, 
and  though  the  mountains  be  carried  into  the  midst  of 
the  sea."  God  maketh  even  the  wrath  of  man  to  praise 
Him,  and  the  remainder  He  restraineth. 

"  All    the    inhabitants    of  the    earth    are    reputed    as 
nothing ;    and  He   doeth    according    to    his  will   in  the 
armies    of  heaven,  and    among  the   inhabitants    of   the 
earth  ;   and   none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto   Him,  • 
'  What  doest  Thou  ?'  " 

This  awful  occurrence  has  not  taken  God  by  surprise, 
for  known  unto  Him  are  all  his  works  from  the  begin 
ning  of  the  world. 


202  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Death  is  an  experience  of  such  magnitude,  that,  as  we 
are  assured,  not  even  a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground 
without  God's  notice ;  and  surely  an  event  of  such  tran 
scendent  moment  as  the  brutal  murder  of  the  ruler  of  a 
great  and  free  nation,  in  the  zenith  of  his  popularity  and 
usefulness,  cannot  occur  without  the  oversight  of  an  all- 
controlling  Providence. 

"  The  very  hairs  of  our  heads  are  all  numbered." 
"  The  steps  of  a  good  man  are  ordered  by  the  Lord, 
and  He  delighteth  in  his  way." 

Let  us  never  forget  that  God  gave  us  President 
Lincoln  in  the  first  place.  That  He  led  his  father  to 
move  across  the  Ohio  River  when  he  was  as  yet  but  a 
child,  leaving  that  condition  of  semi-bondage  in  which 
all  poor  whites  were  then  compelled  to  live  in  the  slave 
States,  and  settling  down  where  he  could  breathe  the 
air  of  freedom.  Let  us  remember  the  struggles,  labors, 
and  aspirations  of  his  boyhood,  youth,  and  early  man 
hood  ;  how  he  toiled,  as  a  boatman,  up  and  down  the 
great  rivers  of  that  region  ;  how,  axe  in  hand,  he  hewed 
his  own  way  through  the  world ;  how  he  studied, 
thought,  observed,  prepared  himself  for  the  bar,  and 
finally  entered  upon  his  political  career  ;  how  he  dis 
tanced  all  competitors  in  the  nomination  for  the 
presidency ;  how  he  was  elected,  after  the  most  exciting 
canvass  ever  known  in  this  country ;  how  his  life  was 
preserved  during  the  passage  through  Baltimore  to  his 
first  inauguration;  how  signally  he  has  been  directed 
and  sustained  throughout  his  official  career  thus  far,  and 
how  really  he  has  not  been  taken  from  us  until  his  work 
was  done ;  his  enemies  scattered,  the  rebellion  put 
down,  the  Union  restored,  and  the  country  saved. 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  203 

Though  dead,  he  yet  speaketh  to  us,  in  that  earnest 
request  of  his,  for  the  prayers  of  all  Christians  through 
out  the  land,  that  he  might  be  guided  and  controlled  of 
God.  And  who  knows,  but  the  Most  High,  how  much 
he  owes  to  the  prayers  of  righteous  men  and  women, 
which  have  been  going  up  day  and  night  for  him, 
accordingly,  ever  since  he  entered  upon  the  discharge 
of  his  duties.  As  a  nation,  we  have  relied  too  little 
upon  God.  Ever  since  the  war  broke  out,  we  have 
been  seeking  and  trying  General  this  and  General  that, 
—  feeling  sure,  at  each  fresh  selection,  that  at  last  we 
had  hit  upon  the  right  man,  and  he  would  prove  our 
national  deliverer.  But  as  one  after  another  our 
Generals  have  been  tried  and  found  wanting,  how 
plainly  has  God  revealed  to  us,  that  "  all  the  inhabitants 
of  the  earth  are  reputed  as  nothing ;  and  He  doeth 
according  to  his  will  in  the  armies  of  heaven,  and 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth,  and  none  can  stay 
his  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  '  What  doest  thou  ?  ' '  How 
clearly  and  irresistibly,  after  every  fresh  disaster,  has 
He  led  us  back  to  himself,  and  taught  us  that  Tain  was 
the  help  of  man ;  that  "  the  race  was  not  to  the  swift, 
nor  the  battle  to  the  strong,"  and  that  we  were  to 
prevail  over  our  enemies,  not  by  might,  nor  by  power, 
but  by  his  blessing  and  favor. 

Never  had  nation  stronger  reason  for  reliance  upon 
God  than  has  ours.  The  location  of  our  Puritan  ances 
tors  here,  after  a  vain  endeavor  to  settle  in  Holland  ;  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  leading  to  the  Revolution 
ary  war,  during  the  first  years  of  which  hardly  glim 
mered  the  hope  of  cur  success  ;  the  final  achievement  of 


204  SERMONS   ON   THE 

national  existence  ;  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution  ;  the 
federal  Union  of  States,  growing  stronger  and  more 
numerous  every  generation,  and  the  survival  of  political 
convulsions  caused  by  the  overthrow  and  destruction  of 
powerful  parties,  —  these  prove  that  God  had  a  purpose 
to  accomplish  in  the  preservation  of  the  country,  which 
not  all  the  malice  of  its  foes  nor  the  folly  of  its  mistaken 
friends  could  thwart. 

Who  may  say  that  that  purpose  is  yet  attained  ?  And 
if  not,  who  can  deny  that  God  is  ordering  the  course  of 
events  so  as  to  secure  its  attainment  ?  Let  us  rely  upon 
Him,  therefore  ;  assured,  that,  having  begun  a  good  work 
among  us,  he  will  carry  it  on  to  a  successful  termination. 

Was  it  not  a  signal  manifestation  of  Divine  favor,  that 
the  assassin  was  not  allowed  to  triumph  until  the  very 
work  he  would  interrupt  had  been  completed  ?  No 
doubt  this  deed  had  been  long  premeditated  by  more 
than  one  of  those  domestic  traitors  who  have  been  toler 
ated  in  our  midst,  and  opportunities  may  have  been  sought, 
again  and  again,  to  take  the  lives  of  our  honored  Chief 
Magistrate,  and  all  associated  with  him  at  the  head  of 
affairs.  No  doubt  it  was  the  hope  of  the  miscreants, 
directly  and  indirectly  engaged,  had  their  nefarious 
schemes  succeeded,  to  have  thrown  the  administration 
into  embarrassment  and  confusion  :  profiting  by  which 
they  hoped  to  seize  the  reins  of  government,  and  have 
everything  their  own  way.  Man  may  propose,  but  God 
disposes.  It  was  not  to  be.  The  cowardly  assailant  of 
the  President  could  not  even  pretend  to  any  such  motive. 
He  exclaims,  "  /  am  revenged!"  His  feelings  were 
wholly  personal.  His  act  was  the  wilful,  deliberate, 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  205 

execrable  crime  of  a  hireling  cutthroat  and  ruffian, 
unattended  by  a  single  palliating  circumstance. 

He  was  too  late  to  arrest  the  mighty  current  which 
this  war  has  started  in  favor  of  universal  liberty,  and 
his  act  must  tend  to  make  that  current  wider,  deeper 
and  stronger  than  ever. 

Thus  will  God  overrule  what  was  intended  to  be  a 
fatal  blow  to  all  our  hopes  and  prospects,  for  their 
speedier  fulfilment  and  their  brighter  realization. 

President  Lincoln  was  the  most  prominent  representa 
tive  and  illustration  of  the  great  national  idea  upon 
which  all  our  free  institutions  are  founded.  He  was 
emphatically  a  man  of  the  people.  He  spoke  the  lan 
guage  of  the  people.  He  thought  and  acted  after  the 
manner  of  the  people  ;  and  his  assassination,  at  such  a 
time,  will  lay  broader  and  firmer  the  foundations  of 
popular  liberty  in  the  heart  of  mankind,  than  could 
years  of  common  life  and  labor. 

God  may  have  seen  that  a  sterner  hand  than  his  was 
needed  to  hold  the  helm  of  state  during  the  next  four 
years  of  reckoning  and  reconstruction.  We  all  have 
marked  how  gentle  and  kindly  he  has  been  ;  with  what 
forbearance  he  has  treated  enemies  ;  how  he  has  warned, 
expostulated,  and  entreated  rebels  to  return  to  their 
allegiance  ;  how  he  has  given  them  time  for  repentance, 
and  foretold  plainly  the  doom  which  sooner  or  later  must 
overtake  their  cause.  Hundreds  of  men  whose  lives 
were  forfeit  by  the  law,  he  has  pardoned  and  released. 
Of  all  papers,  the  hardest  for  him  to  sign  was  a  death- 
warrant  ;  and,  whenever  he  could,  consistently  with  his 
duty  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  a  great  nation,  he  has  com- 
18 


206  SERMONS   ON   THE 

muted  the  death-penalty  to  labor  or  imprisonment.  I 
have  seen  him  at  many  reviews  of  the  national  troops, 
and  his  face  always  wore  a  genial  and  friendly  expres 
sion.  He  was  approachable  to  all,  and  as  courteous  in 
his  manner  towards  the  private  in  the  ranks  as  the 
\ officer  on  the  line.  The  soldiers  loved  him.  Thousands 
who  voted  against  him  at  his  first  election  voted  for  him 
at  the  second,  not  because  their  political  preferences  had 
changed,  but  because  they  had  come  to  believe  in  the 
man ;  and  upon  no  hearts  has  fallen  the  burden  of  a 
heavier  grief  than  rests  upon  those  who  have  fought  for 
the  country  he  has  served  so  well. 

His  death,  under  God,  will  do  as  much  for  the  cause 
he  had  at  heart,  as  did  his  life  :  for  all  great  causes  need 
martyrs  quite  as  much  as  they  do  men.  If  the  blood  of 
martyr  believers  is  the  seed  of  the  Church,  surely  the 
blood  of  martyred  patriots  is  the  seed  of  the  country. 
Not  a  few  the  noble  souls  who  have  risked  and  lost 
all  during  the  fearful  conflicts  of  the  last  four  years. 
And  now,  as  he  led  them  in  life,  he  leads  them  in  death. 
They  were  allowed  the  privilege  of  meeting  their  foes  in 
fair  fight.  He  fell,  the  victim  of  unexpected  butchery ; 
and,  as  men  can  never  get  out  of  their  hearts  and  souls 
the  honest  indignation  such  a  deed  excites,  so  they  will 
never  dismiss  from  their  minds  the  noble  principles  for 
whose  dissemination  he  labored,  and  in  defence  of  which 
he  died. 

President  Lincoln,  as  the  victim  of  an  assassin,  will 
have  vastly  more  influence  in  the  future  than  would 
President  Lincoln  the  successful  ruler  of  a  great  people. 
His  very  wound  will  cry  out  against  the  spirit  and  belief 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  207 

of  those  who  have  connived  at  his  destruction.  The 
man  might  provoke  animosity ;  the  martyr  will  com 
mand  respect.  We  know  that,  already,  several  of  the 
leading  supporters  of  his  administration,  hitherto,  had 
taken  issue  with  him  on  important  points  connected  with 
reconstruction  in  the  rebel  States,  the  confiscation  of 
property,  the  unconditional  abolition  of  slavery,  the  ex 
tension  of  the  right  of  suffrage,  and  the  publication  of 
an  act  of  amnesty  offering  pardon  to  everybody  willing 
to  renew  allegiance.  Hundreds  of  perplexing  questions 
would  no  doubt  have  arisen,  splitting  up  his  former  sym 
pathisers  into  conflicting  parties  intent  on  compassing 
their  ends,  and  willing,  for  this  purpose,  to  separate  from 
him.  This  was  evil  to  come.  He  has  been  removed 
from  it ;  and,  high  above  the  storms  it  may  cause  to 
gather  and  break,  his  image  will  be  treasured  in  every 
heart,  his  example  be  an  inspiration  to  every  life. 

He  has  left,  in  sacred  trust  to  every  person  in  this 
country,  a  legacy  of  invaluable  principles,  far  more  likely 
to  be  carried  out  because  adherence  to  them  has  cost 
him  his  life. 

There  is  an  element  of  reverence  for  the  heroic  dead 
in  human  nature,  which  wields  constantly-increasing 
sway  over  human  faith  and  action.  We  never  know 
how  great  or  good  are  the  prominent  men  among  whom 
we  live  ;  or,  if  we  know,  we  do  not  seem  to  realize  it  so 
keenly  while  they  are  moving  in  our  midst,  as  when  they 
have  left  us  forever.  So  we  ride  past  one  of  the  stately 
churches  which  adorn  our  streets.  The  symmetry  and 
grandeur  of  its  proportions  do  not  catch  our  eye  when 
near ;  but  as  we  are  borne  farther  and  farther  from  it, 


208  SERMONS   ON   THE 

its  walls  and  towers  loom  up  higher  and  higher,  its 
harmonious  outlines  stand  out  more  and  more  boldly,  it 
separates  itself  faster  and  faster  from  the  ranges  of 
common  buildings  around  it,  and  becomes  in  the  distance 
the  most  prominent  and  commanding  feature  of  the 
view. 

Had  President  Lincoln  lived  on  through  the  entire 
term  of  his  office,  being  in  our  midst,  and  not  always 
the  representative  of  our  ideas,  no  doubt  he  would  often 
have  failed  of  appreciation,  had  he  not  provoked  opposi 
tion,  and  some  of  his  measures  or  recommendations 
would  have  been  sharply  criticised,  if  not  severely 
censured. 

But.  now,  as  it  were,  he  has  bequeathed  to  us  the 
principles  of  his  administration  as  an  inheritance  bought 
and  sealed  with  his  blood,  all  the  more  sacred  and  bind 
ing  upon  us  because  he  no  longer  lives  to  expound  and 
enforce  them  himself.  The  more  they  are  examined, 
applied,  and  tested,  the  more  they  miibt  be  valued  ;  the 
more  thoroughly  and  faithfully  they  are  adhered  to,  the 
more  highly  will  they  be  esteemed. 

God  would  have  such  principles  —  though  obnoxious 
to  a  larjje  number  of  the  American  people  —  brought 
into  bold  relief  before  the  eyes  of  men  ;  and,  in  spite  of 
every  effort  to  the  contrary,  it  has  been  done.  Truly, 
';  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  arc  reputed  as  nothing  : 
and  He  cloeth  according  to  his  will  in  the  armies  of 
heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  :  and 
none  can  stay  His  hand,  or  say  unto  him,  '  What  docst 
thou  ? ' ' 

Let  me  remark,  in  conclusion,  that  the  assassin's  act 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  209 

shows  the  terrible  depravity  of  human  nature.  There 
are  many  who  call  him  fiend  and  demon,  but  to  me  he 
seems  to  be  only  a  bad  man.  So  low  will  human  nature 
sink  when  left  to  the  unrestrained  control  of  hatred, 
selfishness,  and  passion ;  so  vile  and  base  and  brutal 
will  a  man  become,  if  he  is  wholly  bent  on  evil.  Let  us 
not  deceive  ourselves  with  words.  Call  the  act  devilish 
and  infernal  if  you  will,  for  it  deserves  all  the  epithets 
that  depravity  has  forced  into  our  language  ;  but  let  us 
not  forget  that  once  the  actor  was  an  innocent,  harmless 
child,  and  that  he  has  been  sinking  to  the  infamy  of  his 
present  condition,  step  by  step.  His  whole  life  seems  to 
have  been  filled  with  flagrant  violations  of  the  moral  law. 
A  traitor  from  the  beginning,  without  manliness  enough 
to  induce  him  to  enlist  in  the  rebel  army,  he  has  pre 
ferred,  like  thousands  of  others,  to  stay  at  home,  and 
meanly  appropriate  the  blessings,  comforts,  and  protec 
tion  of  a  country  which  all  the  time  he  was  endeavoring 
to  destroy. 

No  wonder  the  conspirators  against  the  life  of  our 
beloved  President  found  in  such  a  man  a  willing  tool 
all  ready  for  their  purposes.  What  he  has  done  is  only 
a  practical  re-affirmation  of  God's  holy  word,  that  ''The 
heart  is  deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately 
wicked,"  and  should  convince  us  that  the  germs  of  all 
possible  iniquity,  latent,  undeveloped,  it  may  be,  are  in 
all  our  hearts  ;  and  we  need,  without  exception,  the 
presence  and  the  grace  of  God  to  prevent  them  from 
springing  into  a  vigorous  and  powerful  growth. 

Finally,  God  has  again  providentially  lifted  the  veil 
that  apologists  for  slavery  —  Northern  and  Southern  — 
18* 


210  SERMOXS   ON   THE 

have  drawn  over  its  hideous  features,  and  shown  us  just 
what  spirit  it  is  of.  Thank  God,  the  utterances  from 
this  desk,  while  I  have  been  in  it,  have  been  uniform 
and  incapable  of  misconstruction  upon  this  point.  A 
tree  is  known  by  its  fruits.  It  was  slavery,  in  the 
person  of  Preston  S.  Brooks,  that  made  the  brutal  and 
cowardly  attack  upon  Senator  Sumncr,  but  a  few  years 
ago,  in  the  Senate  chamber  of  the  United  States, 
supported  by  armed  abettors,  approaching  him  from 
behind,  and  beating  him  over  the  head  until  he  fell  from 
his  desk,  bleeding  and  insensible  ! 

It  was  slavery  that  induced  the  mob  of  Alton,  Illinois, 
to  surround  the  printing-office  of  E.  P.  Lovejoy,  on  the 
7th  of  November,  1837,  destroying  not  only  the  press 
and  building,  but  the  life  of  their  fearless  and  faithful 
defender. 

It  was  slavery  that  chained  the  Boston  court-house, 
some  ten  years  ago,  and  led  off  its  chattel  in  triumph 
through  our  streets,  escorted  by  an  irresistible  military 
force.  Slavery  for  years  has  controlled  congressional 
action,  and  forced  even  Presidents  into  compliance  with 
its  wishes. 

It  Mras  slavery  that  trained  and  fired  the  first  gun  at 
Sumter,  and,  without  justifiable  cause  or  provocation, 
precipitated  upon  this  great  country  the  horrors  of  a  civil 
war.  And  can  I  trust  myself  to  speak  of  the  starving, 
shooting,  and  torturing  of  our  captured  troops  in  the 
prison  pens  of  Andcrsonville,  Salisbury,  Dalton,  Colum 
bia,  Wilmington,  and  Danville,  when,  without  the  least 
necessity,  without  the  shadow  of  an  excuse,  their  infernal 
captors  slowly  and  pitilessly  forced  them  into  their 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  211 

graves  by  thousands  ?  No,  I  cannot !  They  were  all 
slaveholders,  or  the  tools  of  slaveholders,  and  they  but 
exhibited  the  temper  slavery  has  developed  and  en 
couraged  from  the  beginning  of  time. 

What  but  the  barbarism  engendered  by  this  "peculiar 
institution"  has  violated  the  sanctity  of  the  grave,  and, 
disinterring  the  remains  of  fallen  soldiers,  made  of  their 
bones  trinkets  and  mementoes  to  amuse  friends  at  home  ? 

Shall  I  remind  you  of  the  invariable  custom  of  rebel 
artillerists  to  shell  our  hospitals  upon  the  field  of  battle, 
and  that  again  and  again  their  troops  have  bayoneted 
the  wounded  ?  Who  has  forgotten  the  massacre  at  Fort 
Pillow;  the  upsetting  of  a  whole  train  of  ambulances 
filled  with  wounded  men  in  Tennessee ;  the  hanging  of 
loyal  persons,  in  the  presence  of  their  agonized  families, 
in  all  the  Southern  States  ;  the  slaughter  at  Lawrence, 
Kansas,  of  inoffensive  citizens,  and  the  burning  of  their 
habitations  and  effects  by  the  infamous  Quantrell ;  the 
attempted  destruction  of  all  our  Northern  cities,  crowded 
with  inhabitants,  by  incendiaries  ;  and  the  robbery  and 
murder  at  St.  Albans  ?  It  would  have  seemed  impossi 
ble  to  outdo  the  horror  of  such  atrocities,  but  even  that 
has  been  done.  This  last  act  crowns  and  completes  the 
whole.  Slavery  has  lost  all  disguises  forever,  and  must 
now  stand  forth  to  the  end  of  time  in  all  its  natural  and 
revolting  hideousness. 

Because  I  have  felt  this  to  be  its  character  for  many 
years,  I  have  been  unable  to  endure  the  thought  that 
members  of  this  society,  otherwise  lovable  and  engaging, 
should  be  ranked  among  its  defenders,  and  so  have 
spoken  strongly  and  repeatedly,  though  always  in  a  spirit 


212  SERMONS. 

of  charity  and  affection  to  them.  Let  me  entreat  of 
them  again,  if  any  there  be  here,  or  ask  their  friends  to 
entreat  of  them  if  not,  to  reflect  upon  the  stand  they 
have  taken,  to  view  it  in  the  light  of  this  last  deplorable 
event  which  has  overwhelmed  our  whole  nation  with 
sorrow  and  gloom,  and  acknowledge  that  slavery  has 
indeed  proved  itself  to  be  the  sum  of  all  human  villa- 
nies,  and  deserves  the  abhorrence  and  execration  of  man 
kind. 

"  Once  to  every  man  and  nation  comes  the  moment  'to  decide, 
In  the  strife  of  truth  with  falsehood,  for  the  good  or  evil  side  : 
Some  great  cause,  God's  new  Messiah,  offering  each  the  bloom 

or  blight, 

Parts  the  goats  upon  the  left  hand,  and  the  sheep  upon  the  right, 
And  the  choice  goes  by  forever,  'twixt  that  darkness  and  that 

light." 

Whether  we  will  have  it  so  or  not,  it  is  very  evident 
that  God  has  decreed  the  abolition  of  American  Slavery. 
Whatever  door  He  opens,  man  may  not  shut ;  whatever 
door  He  shuts,  man  may  not  open.  God  is  now,  and 
ever  shall  be,  what  He  has  been  from  the  beginning. 
"  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth  are  reputed  as  nothing, 
and  He  doeth  according  to  his  will,  in  the  armies  of 
heaven,  and  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  earth;  and 
none  can  stay  his  hand,  or  say  unto  Him,  '  What  doest 
Thou  ? '  "  Amen. 


REV.  CHANDLER  ROB  BINS. 


PSALMS    LXXVII:    19. 


THY   WAY  is   IN    THE    SEA,  AND    THY   PATH  IN  THE  GREAT 
WATERS,  AND  THY  FOOTSTEPS  ARE  NOT  KNOWN. 


How  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence !  We 
have  passed  through  such  a  week  of  wonders  and  con 
trasts,  through  such  quick  alternations  of  fierce  extremes 
of  emotion,  out  of  long  anxiety  into  sudden  hope  and 
joy,  and  anon,  from  highest  jubilee  to  lowest  mourning, 
that  —  may  God  have  mercy  upon  us  —  we  come  into 
the  sanctuary  to-day  with  our  minds  so  agitated,  jaded, 
amazed,  that  we  are  unfit  to  offer  anything  except  a  pro 
found  acknowledgment  of  God's  inscrutable  designs,  and 
an  humble  prayer  for  his  most  needed  succor. 

How  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence  !  We 
felt  this,  and  we  said  it  here  —  but  under  what  opposite 
conditions  !  —  only  three  days  ago.  We  had  assembled 
then,  at  the  call  of  a  human  magistrate,  to  humiliate 
ourselves  for  our  sins  ;  but  He  who  overruleth  all  had 
recently  sent  us  such  a  joyful  surprise  as  to  turn  our 
Fast  into  a  Thanksgiving.  And  now,  on  this  blessed 
Easter  Sunday,  which  we  were  expecting  to  celebrate 
with  double  gladness,  through  the  association  of  our  joy 

(215) 


216  SERMONS   ON   THE 

for  our  country's  triumph  with  our  rejoicings  for  our 
Redeemer's  victory,  He  has  permitted  our  land  to  be 
shrouded  with  such  a  tragic  gloom  as  even  the  radiance 
of  the  resurrection  cannot  wholly  dispel.  Alas  !  that 
the  same  loving  hands  which  were  preparing  to  grace 
this  sacred  altar  with  those  simple  but  fragrant  tokens 
of  our  Christian  gratitude,  should  have  been  called,  at 
the  last  moment,  to  entwine  around  them  those  drooping  \ 
emblems  of  our  patriotic  woe.*" 

How  mysterious  are  the  ways  of  Providence !  The 
life  which  He  had  protected  for  four  eventful  years 
amidst  a  thousand  dangers ;  the  life  which  was  dear, 
and  every  day  becoming  dearer  to  all  who  love  our  coun 
try  ;  the  life  which,  in  human  view,  was  most  important 
to  the  nation's  welfare  ;  the  life  upon  whose  continu 
ance,  more  than  upon  any  other  mortal  pillar,  we  hung 
our  hopes  of  a  brighter  era  of  justice  and  of  peace  ;  the 
life  which  the  myriads  who  are  coming  out  of  bondage 
have  daily  commended  with  prayers  and  thanksgivings 
to  God  ;  the  life  which  foreign  nations,  both  friendly  and 
jealous,  were  beginning  to  respect  and  honor  ;  the  life 
which,  in  its  peculiar  way,  was  exerting  an  influence 
more  powerful  and  extensive  than  that  of  any  potentate 
of  the  old  world ;  the  life  which  legions  of  armed  men 
stood  ready  to  protect  with  their  own,  He  has  permitted 
a  vile  assassin's  hand  to  destroy  at  one  fell  blow. 

*  Several  ladies  of  the  church  had  prepared  a  cross  of  "  May 
flowers  "  for  the  front  of  the  pulpit,  and  a  large  basket  of  rich  flow 
ers  for  the  communion-table,  in  honor  of  Easter  Sunday.  On 
hearing  of  the  President's  death  they  draped  the  pulpit  with  flags 
of  the  United  States,  dressed  with  mourning. 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  217 

We  are  told  in  his  holy  oracles,  that,  without  Him,  not 
a  sparrow  falleth  to  the  ground,  nor  a  hair  of  His  ser 
vants'  heads  can  be  harmed.  But  He  has  not  interposed 
secret  hand  to  shield  that  honored  head  from  such  an 
ignoble  fate.  We  are  told  that  He  counts  the  tears  of 
His  children,  and  hears  every  sigh  of  the  solitary  suf 
ferer.  But  He  has  not  thwarted  that  murderous  purpose 
which  has  flooded  a  nation  with  grief,  and  extorted  a 
simultaneous  wail  of  anguish  from  millions  of  wounded 
hearts. 

Yes,  His  ways  are  indeed  mysterious  !  But  who  of  us 
would  question  His  wisdom  or  His  mercy?  "As  high 
as  the  heavens  are  above  the  earth,  so  are  His  thoughts 
higher  than  our  thoughts."  Only  because  they  are  so 
exalted  are  they  incomprehensible  to  us.  The  darkness 
which  shrouds  His  plans  is  caused  by  their  unfathomable 
depth.  We  fail  to  see  His  goodness,  because  His  love 
is  infinite. 

What  know  we  yet  of  the  purposes  of  His  providence 
in  permitting  this  horrid  crime?  Who  can  tell  us  what 
consequences  God  may  have  foreseen  would  have  resulted 
from  the  disappointment  of  that  infernal  design  ?  What 
consequences  to  the  distinguished  victim  himself,  and 
what  to  the  nation  and  to  humanity  ?  You  must  dis 
cover  that  secret  before  you  begin  to  question  His  wis 
dom.  Who  can  tell  us  that  greater  evil  would  not  have 
accrued  from  the  arrest,  than  from  the  execution  of  that 
satanic  deed?  —  greater  evil  to  him  whom  we  lament,  to 
the  people  to  whom  he  was  so  unselfishly  devoted,  and 
to  the  cause  of  those  principles  which,  as  he  himself 
once  said,  were  dearer  to  him  than  life,  —  and  which 
19 


218  SERMONS   ON   THE 

ought  to  be  dearer  to  us  also  than  the  life  of  any  mor 
tal,  however  honored  and  beloved.  Yon  must  solve  that 
problem,  before  you  can  begin  to  arraign  His  goodness. 
You  must  pry  into  the  future,  and  foresee  the  results 
which  will  actually  follow  from  this  tragedy,  the  influ 
ence  it  is  to  have  upon  the  course  and  welfare  of  the 
country,  upon  the  settlement  of  the  momentous  questions 
that  are  opening  before  us,  upon  the  feeling  and  action 
of  the  North  and  of  the  South,  upon  our  domestic  and 
foreign  relations  and  policy,  upon  the  great  interests  of 
justice,  freedom,  and  Christian  civilization,  —  you  must 
look  forward  and  acquaint  yourself  with  these  things 
before  you  begin  to  murmur  at  what  He  has  done,  "  who 
seeth  the  end  from  the  beginning." 

Yes,  His  ways  are  mysterious,  —  dark,  very  dark,  and 
awful,  as  we  contemplate  them  amid  these  first  pangs  of 
bereavement.  But  not  wholly  dark  even  now.  Already 
gleams  of  light  flash  upon  us  through  the  gloom.  Already 
some  tokens  of  loving  kindness  find  their  way  to  our 
hearts. 

He  who  so  reluctantly  inaugurated  the  war  of  defence 
and  retribution  which  treason  had  forced  upon  us  ;  he 
who  till  the  last  moment  cherished  the  delusive  hope, 
offspring  of  his  own  generous  nature,  that  his  rebellious 
countrymen  would  relent ;  he  who,  through  all  the  stages 
of  the  fierce  conflict,  in  spite  of  the  bitterness  which  it 
has  engendered  and  the  spirit  of  retaliation  it  has  pro 
voked,  has  invariably  leaned  to  the  side  of  forgiveness 
and  mercy ;  he  who,  whatever  errors  he  may  be  judged 
by  any  to  have  committed,  has  under  God  conducted  the 
nation  safely  and  honorably  through  its  long  path  of 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  219 

peril ;  he  who,  as  the  event  has  proved,  was  the  provi 
dential  man  for  the  last  four  years,  and  whom  we  could 
not  have  spared  during  their  progress  without  far  worse 
disasters  than  any  which  have  befallen  us,  —  he  has 
been  graciously  preserved  to  rejoice  with  us  all  over  those 
last  victories  which  have  vindicated  the  violated  authori 
ty  of  the  nation ;  he  has  been  spared  to  hear  the  shouts 
of  our  armies  hailing  the  glorious  issue  which  has  crowned 
their  valor,  and  repaid  them  for  all  their  toils  ;  he  has 
been  spared  to  see  the  flag  of  the  Union  floating  over  the 
strongholds  of  rebellion  ;  to  contemplate  near  at  hand  the 
blessed  prospect  of  peace  ;  to  meditate  a  proclamation  of 
amnesty ;  to  consider  with  his  Cabinet  the  terms  of  rec 
onciliation,  and  to  send  abroad  to  foreign  nations  those 
significant  messages  which  re-assert  the  suspended  rights 
of  the  nation,  and  demand  the  unqualified  recognition  of 
its  re-established  dignity  and  power.  In  these  provi 
dential  favors,  which  come  at  once  to  remembrance,  we 
should  be  ungrateful  not  to  recognize  the  divine  benig 
nity,  both  to  him  and  to  us. 

Moreover,  we  cannot  but  feel  that  he  has  died  in  a 
good  time  for  himself;  in  a  moment  of  joy,  in  an  hour 
of  hope  and  triumph,  in  the  midst  of  peaceful  and  gen 
erous  thoughts,  while  offering  grateful  aspirations  to 
God,  and  devising  acts  of  forgiveness  and  magnanimity 
towards  man.  Though  the  manner  of  his  death  is 
shocking  to  us,  yet  we  should  not  forget  that  to  him  it 
was  without  a  pang.  Though  we  contemplate  the  vile- 
ness  of  the  instrument  with  indignation  and  abhorrence, 
yet  he  himself  had  no  suspicion  of  the  malignity  of 


220  SERMONS   ON   THE 

which  he  was  the  victim,   and  no  feeling   of  revenge 
towards  the  murderer  who  hurried  him  to  his  rest. 

Whether  he  has  died  also  in  a  good  time  for  his 
country  and  for  us,  remains  yet  to  be  revealed.  That 
Providence  designs  this  event  for  the  ultimate  good  of 
the  nation  we  will  not,  we  cannot  doubt.  But  of  what 
nature  that  good  may  be,  and  in  what  ways  it  may  be 
accomplished,  only  the  future  will  disclose. 

Perhaps  it  may  be  His  holy  purpose  to  subject  us  to 
yet  new  tribulations.  Perhaps  He  sees  that  we  have  not 
improved  as  we  ought  the  discipline  which  has  been 
hitherto  laid  upon  us.  Perhaps  He  perceives  that  it  is 
necessary  that  we  should  pass  through  yet  another  fur 
nace  of  affliction  before  we  shall  have  become  purified 
like  gold  tried  in  the  fire.  Perhaps  He  has  seen  that 
we  have  trusted  too  much  to  an  arm  of  flesh.  Perhaps 
He  knows  that  the  awful  lessons  of  the  war  have  not 
sunk  deep  enough  into  our  hearts ;  that  ^Tanity  and 
pride,  frivolity  and  luxury,  intemperance  and  dishonesty, 
reckless  speculation  and  greed  of  gain,  immorality  and 
ungodliness,  have  not  been  rebuked  and  abashed  and 
awed  as  they  ought  to  have  been  by  His  judgments,  by 
the  vast  bereavements  and  calamities  which  have  been 
visited  upon  us  for  our  public  and  private  sins. 

If  such  as  these  are  among  His  purposes,  —  and  that 
they  may  be,  the  consciences  of  many  must  boar  witness 
that  there  is  too  much  cause  for  believing,  —  then  it  rests 
in  no  small  measure  with  ourselves  whether  this  sudden 
chastisement  shall  eventuate  in  our  good.  O  my  country 
men,  my  countrymen !  let  us  suffer  ourselves  to  be 
implored  and  admonished,  by  all  that  is  solemn  and 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  221 

shocking  in  this  bereavement ;  by  this  startling  evidence 
of  the  brittleness  of  human  life  and  the  vanity  of  human 
hopes  ;  by  this  awful  warning  of  the  fearful  crimes  to 
which  wicked  passions  lead  ;  by  all  that  is  instructive 
and  exemplary  in  the  life,  and  all  that  is  impressive 
and  touching  in  the  death,  of  the  honored  head  of  our 
nation ;  by  all  that  our  country  has  suffered  and  is  suf 
fering  ;  by  all  the  precious  blood  which  has  been  shed 
in  its  behalf;  by  all  the  claims  it  has  upon  its  children; 
by  all  we  owe  to  God,  to  our  families,  to  our  fellow-men, 
and  to  our  own  souls,  —  let  us  be  admonished  and  im 
plored  to  put  away  the  evil  of  our  doings ;  to  cast  out 
all  low  and  selfish  passions  from  our  hearts  ;  to  watch 
and  pray  that  we  ourselves  may  not  fall  into  temptation; 
to  watch  and  pray  and  work,  each  one  of  us  in  his  place, 
for  the  promotion  of  public  virtue  and  the  correction  of 
the  national  sins  ;  to  dedicate  the  remainder  of  our  lives 
to  wisdom  and  righteousness.  It  is  upon  the  moral 
results  of  these  times  of  trial  that  the  salvation  both  of 
our  country  and  ourselves  depends ;  and  for  these,  let 
us  remember,  God  will  hold  our  citizens  individually 
responsible. 

But  the  oppressive  sense  of  our  great  bereavement 
must  not  be  permitted  to  draw  our  thoughts  away  from 
that  sublime  and  joyous  event  which  the  whole  Christian 
world  commemorates  to-day.  Indeed,  it  is  all  the  more 
salutary  and  needful,  amidst  this  national  distress  and 
perplexity,  while  the  winds  and  waves  are  roaring, 
while  the  earthly  foundations  of  our  confidence  are 
shaking  beneath  us,  and  the  pillars  of  human  pride  and 
hope  are  falling  around  us,  that  we  should  turn  anew  to 


222  t  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  bright  revelation  of  immortal  life,  and  contemplate 
afresh  the  radiant  pledge  of  the  incorruptible  and  un 
fading  inheritance. 

Christ  is  risen !  Thanks  be  to  God,  who  has  set  this 
transcendent  fact  over  against  all  the  gloom  and  misery 
and  mystery  of  man's  earthly  lot;  thanks,  that  the 
interposing  love  of  our  Maker  has  inwrought  it  as  a 
vital  reality  into  human  experience  and  history  ;  thanks, 
that  the  heel  of  the  woman's  seed  is  actually  planted  on 
the  serpent's  head ;  that  redeeming  energy  has  mani 
fested  itself  in  human  flesh  ;  that  the  Eternal  Word  has 
spoken  its  life-giving  truths  through  human  lips  ;  that 
that  "  Eternal  Life  which  was  with  the  Father "  has 
been  upon  the  earth,  seen  by  mortal  eyes  and  handled 
by  mortal  hands ;  that  power  and  love  divine  have  come 
down  from  heaven  and  dwelt  among  us,  healing  our 
diseases,  comforting  our  sorrows,  forgiving  and  taking 
away  our  sins ;  that  the  Son  of  God,  the  "  Wonderful," 
the  "  Conqueror,"  the  "  Prince  of  Peace,"  of  whose 
"  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end,"  has  taken  upon  him 
self  our  own  nature,  —  dignifying  it  by  his  perfect  life, 
redeeming  it  by  his  obedient  death,  renovating  it  by  his 
quickening  spirit,  raising  and  glorifying  it  by  his  own 
glorious  rising, —  that  he  is  bound  to  us  and  identified 
with  us  by  the  ties  and  sympathies  of  a  common  human 
ity,  and  has  promised  to  love  and  guide  and  save  and 
sanctify,  and  bring  home,  at  length,  spotless  and  joyous, 
to  his  Father's  presence,  every  one  who  believes  in  him. 

To-day,  in  the  midst  of  our  gloom,  we  will  fix  our 
thoughts  and  our  hearts  upon  this  "  mystery  of  godli 
ness,"  this  miracle  of  the  divine  mercy,  wrought  in  with 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  223 

the  course  of  human  events  as  palpably  as  the  saddest 
reality  of  our  experience,  —  more  vivid  and  more  im 
pressive  than  the  most  tragic  scene  of  history,  —  till  all 
that  is  dark,  disheartening  and  appalling  fades  into 
comparative  obscurity,  and  the  whole  soul  is  irradiated 
with  the  glory  of  that  majestic  vision. 

Come,  then,  all  ye  who  believe  that  "  Christ  died  for 
our  sins,  and  rose  again  for  our  justification  "  ;  in  this 
hour  of  general  Christian  jubilee,  lift  up  your  eyes, 
swollen  with  weeping,  lift  up  your  hearts,  burdened 
with  grief,  and  bear  your  part  with  the  vast  chorus  of 
believers,  who  are  raising,  in  ten  thousand  temples,  their 
song  of  Christian  triumph,  —  "Thanks  be  to  God,  who 
giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ!  " 


REV.   W.    S.    STUD  LEY. 


LAMENTATIONS  V:  15,  16,  17,  19. 


THE  JOY  OF  OUR  HEART  is  CEASED  ;  OUR  DANCE  is  TURNED 
INTO   MOURNING.      THE    CROWN  is   FALLEN  FROM  OUR  HEAD. 

WOE    UNTO    US,    THAT   WE    HAVE    SINNED.      FOR  THIS    OUR   HEART 
IS   FAINT.      FOR   THESE    THINGS     OUR    EYES    ARE    DIM.       *       *       * 

THOU,    O   LORD  !   REMAINEST   FOREVER  !    THY  THRONE  FROM 
GENERATION  TO  GENERATION. 


THIS  bright  Easter  morning  is  one  of  the  saddest,  and, 
at  the  same  time,  one  of  the  most  hopeful  mornings  that 
ever  dawned  upon  the  American  people. 

In  the  vigor  of  his  days,  in  the  ripeness  of  his  expe 
rience  as  a  ruler,  in  the  midst  of  duties  which  no  man 
knew  or  was  better  qualified  to  discharge  than  he,  the 
foremost  man  of  this  nation  has  been  struck  down  by 
the  hand  of  an  assassin. 

Abraham  Lincoln,  our  President,  whose  mental  and 
moral  vision  was  as  clear  and  true  as  a  sunbeam,  and 
whose  great  heart  was  as  tender  and  loving  as  a  wom 
an's,  a  man  who  possessed  such  a  genial  and  generous 
nature  that  he  had  scarcely  a  personal  enemy  in  the 
world,  —  having  guided  the  republic  safely  through  the 
darkest  night  of  trial  that  ever  gathered  about  any 

(227) 


228  SERMONS   ON  THE 

people  since  the  foundation  of  the  world, — just  when 
the  morning  light  begins  to  dawn  upon  us,  giving  prom 
ise  of  a  long  and  glorious  day,  —  this  wise  and  just  and 
merciful  ruler  lies  murdered  in  the  capital ! 

What  language  can  express  our  horror  of  .the  blow 
which  struck  him  down  ?  And  what  shall  we  say  of  the 
hellish  power  which  prompted  and  aimed  the  blow  ? 

We  thought  we  had  already  seen  the  utmost  reach 
of  barbarism  and  savagery  of  which  the  slave-power  is 
capable.  We  had  seen  it  trample  on  the  rights  of  four 
millions  of  people,  using  them  solely  for  its  own  infernal 
lusts.  We  had  seen  it  make  war  on  the  most  beneficent 
and  kindly  government  that  was  ever  devised  among 
men.  We  had  seen  it  take  the  slam  victims  of  that 
war,  and  of  their  bones  make  toys  and  playthings  and 
personal  adornments  for  its  wives  and  children.  We 
had  seen  it  take  the  living  victims  of  that  war,  and 
transform  sixty  thousand  of  them  into  idiotic  skeletons 
or  ghastly  corpses  by  the  torturing  process  of  starvation. 
Ay,  in  a  land  teeming  with  abundance,  in  the  very  heart 
of  Georgia,  tens  of  thousands  of  Federal  soldiers, — 
under  the  direction  of  Jefferson  Davis,  and  with  the 
consent  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  —  were  literally  and  delib 
erately  and  vindictively  starved  to  death,  or  into  hope 
less  idiocy ;  and  the  last  breath  of  many  a  brave  man 
was  spent  in  offering  a  pitiful  but  unanswered  cry  for 
bread ! 

And  now,  to  fill  the  measure  of  its  wickedness, 
slavery  has  done  —  WHAT  ?  How  shall  we  characterize 
its  latest  deed  ?  What  lexicon  contains  the  word  by 
which  to  fitly  call  it  ?  What  shall  we  name  the  act 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  229 

of  one  who  comes  behind  an  unarmed,  unsuspecting 
man,  —  surrounded  by  his  family,  enjoying  an  hour's 
respite  from  the  weightiest  burden  of  responsibility  and 
care  that  ever  rested  upon  a  single  mind,  —  and  delib 
erately  shoots  him  down  ?  What  shall  we  call  the  act 
of  one  who  goes  to  the  darkened  chamber  of  an  almost 
dying  man,  —  a  man  whose  bones  have  just  been 
so  shattered  by  accident  as  to  make  it  doubtful  if  he 
ever  moves  again,  —  and,  leaping  upon  the  bed,  with 
the  fury  of  a  fiend,  plunges  a  dagger,  again  and  again, 
into  his  helpless  and  almost  lifeless  form  ?  And  these 
nameless  deeds  slavery  has  just  done  to  increase  and 
perpetuate  its  previous  record  of  infamy  ! 

Marc  Antony,  standing  above  the  body  of  the  mur 
dered  Ca9sar,  is  represented  by  the  great  dramatist 
as  saying  what  we  might  say  to-day  above  the  scarred 
remains  of  the  late  wise  and  generous  President  of  this 
republic  : 

"  Thou  art  the  ruins  of  the  noblest  man 
That  ever  lived  in  the  tide  of  times  ! 
"VVoe  to  the  hand  that  shed  this  costly  blood !  " 

Ay,  woe  to  Slavery!  —  woe  to  its  perjured,  bloody- 
handed  champion,  Jefferson  Davis  !  —  woe  to  its  adher 
ents  and  defenders,  its  advocates  and  apologists,  whether 
in  Carolina  or  Massachusetts  !  Behold,  the  hour  of  its 
destruction  is  at  hand !  Nay,  this  very  Easter  Sunday 
is  the  day  of  its  resurrection  !  —  its  resurrection  to  ever 
lasting  shame  and  contempt! — its  resurrection  to  com 
plete  and  eternal  damnation  !  Its  doom  is  sealed ! 

To-day,  for  one,  I  would  rather  be  the  murdered 
20 


230  SERMONS   ON   THE 

President,  or  the  wounded  Secretary,  than  to  be  the  man, 
who,  in  this  hour  of  the  nation's  sorrow,  has  no  prayer 
to  offer  for  the  final  and  utter  extermination  of  that 
system  which  has  lifted  itself  so  long  against  our  peace. 

When  Slavery  did  this  last  and  most  brutal  of  all  its 
deeds,  it  doubtless  thought  to  intimidate  the  future  rulers 
of  this  land  from  meting  out  to  traitors  the  punishment 
which  their  crimes  deserve.  But  it  made  a  fearful 
mistake.  In  dealing  with  traitors,  Andrew  Johnson's 
little  finger  will  be  thicker  than  Abraham  Lincoln's 
loins.  If  the  OLD  president  chastised  them  with  whips, 
#the  NEW  president  will  chastise  them  with  scorpions. 
Here  is  what  he  said  only  last  week  in  a  public  address 
on  the  occasion  of  the  fall  of  Richmond  : 

"  Treason  is  the  highest  crime  known  in  the  catalogue 
of  crimes  ;  and  for  him  that  is  guilty  of  it, —  for  him 
that  is  willing  to  lift  his  impious  hand  against  the 
authority  of  the  nation, —  I  would  say  death  is  too  easy 
a  punishment.  My  notion  is  that  treason  must  be  made 
odious  ;  that  traitors  must  be  punished  and  impoverished: 
their  social  power  broken. 

"  You,  my  friends,  have  traitors  in  your  very  midst,  and 
treason  needs  rebuke  and  punishment  here  as  well  as 
elsewhere.  It  is  not  the  men  in  the  field  who  are  the 
greatest  traitors.  It  is  the  men  who  have  encouraged 
them  to  imperil  their  lives,  while  they  themselves  have 
remained  at  home,  expending  their  means,  and  exerting 
all  their  power,  to  overthrow  the  government.  Hence  I 
say  this  :  'the  halter  to  intelligent,  influential  traitors.' 
But  to  the  honest  boy,  to  the  deluded  man,  who  have 
been  deceived  into  the  rebel  ranks,  I  would  extend 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  231 

leniency.  I  would  say  return  to  your  allegiance,  renew 
your  support  to  the  government,  and  become  good 
citizens  ;  but  the  leaders  I  would  hang." 

Nor  is  this  a  new-born  sentiment  in  the  heart  of 
Andrew  Johnson ;  for  as  long  ago  as  the  second  of 
March,  1861,  in  a  thrilling  speech,  which  created  an 
unparalleled  outbreak  of  enthusiasm  in  the  galleries  of 
the  Senate  Chamber,  he  said  : 

"Show  me  the  man  who  makes  war  on  the  govern 
ment,  and  fires  on  its  vessels,  and  I  will  show  you  a 
traitor.  And,  if  1  were  President  of  tlie  United  States,  I 
would  have  all  such  arrested,  and  when  tried  and  con 
victed,  by  the  eternal  God,  I  would  have  them  hung  /" 

There  is  hope,  therefore,  in  the  bright  beams  of  this 
Easter  sun!  Our  new  ruler  knows  how  to  deal  with 
traitors ! 

Abraham  Lincoln  is  dead:  slain  by  the  hand  of 
slavery !  He  lived  long  enough,  however,  to  see  the 
promised  land  from  Pisgah ;  long  enough  to  witness 
the  triumph  of  that  army  and  navy  of  which  he  was  the 
commander-in- chief;  long  enough  to  walk  through  the 
streets  of  Kichmond,  clad  in  magisterial  authority ;  long 
enough  to  insure  for  the  American  people  "  liberty  and 
union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable " ;  long 
enough  to  insure  for  himself  a  spotless  record — a  death 
less  name.  That  which  the  poet  sung  of  the  Greek  hero 
is  peculiarly  applicable  to  our  departed  leader : 

"  Thou  art  FREEDOM'S  now,  and  FAME'S  !  " 
There  is  hope,  I  say,  as  well  as  sadness,  in  this  hour  ; 


232  SERMONS. 

the  joy  of  our  heart  may  have  ceased ;  our  dance  may 
have  been  turned  into  mourning ;  the  crown  may  have 
fallen  from  our  head,  but  "  THOTJ,  O  LOUD,  REMAINEST 
FOREVER;  THY  THRONE  FROM  GENERATION  TO  GEN 
ERATION.  And,  while  God  remains,  truth  cannot  be 
shorn  of  its  beauty  or  strength  by  any  of  ihem  machina 
tions  of  error. 

On  that  dreadful  Friday,  when  the  enemies  of  Jesus 
nailed  Him  to  the  cross,  they  thought  that  they  had 
silenced  Him  for  ever ;  but  there  was  never  a  greater 
mistake.  They  had  only  placed  Him  where  His  divine 
beauty  could  be  more  clearly  seen,  and  where  His  divine 
power  could  be  more  widely  exerted. 

And  so  it  will  be  always.  Every  purpose  of  evil  is 
certain  to  be  overruled  for  good.  No  outrage  upon  relig 
ion,  or  humanity,  is  permitted  to  go  unavenged  forever. 

Four  years  ago  the  arch  leader  of  the  rebellion  declared 
that  the  _war  should  be  waged  on  northern  soil ;  that, 
within  their  own  State  lines,  the  people  of  the  North 
should  smell  southern  powder  and  feel  southern  steel. 
But  God  ordained  it  otherwise.  His  decree  went  forth 
that  the  power  of  injustice  should  be  destroyed  on  the 
very  spot  where  it  had  been  exerted.  And  this  latest 
crime  of  treachery  and  oppression,  which  has  filled  every 
loyal  heart  so  suddenly  with  mourning,  by  God's  over 
ruling  grace  shall  work  out  more  perfectly  the  redemp 
tion  of  our  land.  Amen. 


REV.   RUFUS  ELLIS. 


L  UKE    XXIV:  5,   6. 


AND  AS  THEY  WERE  AFRAID,  AND  BOWED  DOWN  THEIR  FACES 
TO   THE  EARTH,   THEY   SAID   UNTO   THEM,  WHY  SEEK.  YE   THE 

LIVING   AMONG    THE    DEAD  ?      HE    IS    NOT    HERE,    BUT    IS    RISEN. 


THE  voices  still  sound  for  the  ear  of  faith  ;  and  he 
who  hath  that  ear,  let  him  hear  what  the  spirit  saith 
unto  the  churches  to-day.  It  is  our  resurrection-morn 
ing,  a  time  consecrated  to  gladness  ;  and  yet  it  finds  a 
nation  in  tears.  Our  tower  of  strength  is  fallen.  Bloody 
violence  has  invaded  the  high  places  of  the  land  ;  and 
he  who  was  in  deed  as  well  as  in  name  the  head  of  the 
people,  more  and  more  trusted,  more  and  more  loved, 
as  he  was  better  and  better  known,  lies  dead,  —  our 
country's  martyr.  Only  on  the  last  Thursday  I  tried 
to  acknowledge,  in  a  few  earnest  words,  the  eminent 
worth  and  high  services  of  our  noble  President,  and  now 
he  is  no  more  with  us  on  earth  ;  and,  saddest  thought 
of  all,  the  wrath  of  man  hath  wrought  for  us  this  woe. 
Let  every  believing  soul  exercise  a  high  and  serene  and 
Christian  trust,  according  to  the  great  necessities  of  an 
hour  which  hath  no  precedent  in  our  history,  and  be 
wise  and  calm  and  faithful  in  the  persuasion,  that,  in 

(235) 


236  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  providence  of  God,  the  wrath  of  man  shall  accom 
plish  all  the  more  completely  that  divine  purpose  which 
nothing  can  defeat  or  so  much  as  delay.  Our  Easter  * 
flowers  shall  remain  in  the  house  of  prayer,  not  because 
we  are  glad,  —  we  cannot  be  glad  to-day,  —  but  because 
we  are  full  of  the  great  hope  which  is  the  Christian's 
anchor,  and  which  holds  in  the  stormiest  sea.  They 
are  providentially  here  to  grace  the  burial  of  our  Chief 
Magistrate,  honored  and  well  beloved,  the  best  defence 
of  the  nation,  under  God,  only  yesterday  :  they  shall  be 
eloquent  symbols  of  immortality,  shining  witnesses  of 
the  light  that  burns  behind  the  darkest  clouds,  and 
of  the  love  which  is  unchanging  ;  of  the  earth,  earthy, 
and  yet  fragrant  as  with  the  airs  of  heaven,  and  telling 
us  of  things  heavenly,  that  — 

"  Sweet  fields  beyond  the  swelling  flood 
Stand  dressed  in  living  green." 

I  am  not  sorry  that  it  is  Easter-morning ;  that  the  sad 
message  has  found  us  at  the  open  tomb  of  Jesus,  thank 
ful,  with  a  Christian  thankfulness,  that  death  is  for 
ever  abolished,  and  taught,  by  that  look  of  triumph  in 
the  eyes  of  our  risen  Lord,  how  surely  and  how  swiftly 
sometimes  God  brings  the  best  things  out  of  the  worst, 
and  clothes  the  heaviest  spirits  in  the  most  radiant  gar 
ments  of  praise.  Let  us  confess  his  hand;  and  that 
known  unto  him  are  all  the  works  of  man  from  the 
foundation  of  the  world ;  and  that  this  blow  also  was 
needed,  else  it  had  not  been  given  in  the  providence  of 
One  who  never  willingly  afflicts. 

*  Easter  Sunday,  April  16. 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  237 

"  Why  seek  ye  the  living  among  the  dead  ?  He  is 
not  here,  but  is  risen."  It  is  a  pious,  faithful,  and  most 
tender  office  to  go  to  the  graves  of  our  loved  ones  ;  and 
not  to  weep  there  were  to  be  less  than  human.  Know 
ye  not,  said  the  apostle,  that  ye  are  the  temples  of  God ; 
and  that  your  very  bodies  are  consecrated,  fashioned  into 
majesty  and  beauty  by  the  life  within  ?  And  \ve  have 
all  seen  how  the  departing  spirit  sets  upon  the  lifeless 
form  its  own  lovely  image  ;  and,  in  proportion  as  we 
honor  the  soul,  we  deal  very  tenderly  with  the  soul's 
wonderful  tabernacle.  Nevertheless  there  is  need  of  the 
question,  "Why  seek  ye  the  living  among  the  dead?" 
—  need  that,  even  here  in  Christendom,  we  should  again 
and  again  be  told,  "  He  is  not  here,  but  is  risen." 
They  are  not  the  words  which  man's  wisdom  teacheth. 
Science  does  not  announce  them  amongst  her  discoveries, 
old  or  new.  The  heart  of  nature  hath  no  such  burden 
as  that  to  roll  forth  from  its  burning  core,  persistent  as 
is  its  hope,  deep  as  is  its  desire  of  immortality.  The 
voices  are  the  voices  of  angels;  they  come  to  us  from 
that  tomb  in  which  Christ  and  his  gospel  seemed  to  be 
for  ever  buried ;  they  are  the  echoes  of  those  early  testi 
monies  which  declared  to  all  the  world,  beginning  at 
Jerusalem,  that  he  who  "  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate, 
was  crucified,  dead,  and  buried,"  rose  from  the  dead  on 
the  third  day,  to  be  called,  ever  after,  the  Lord's  Day, 
to  be  the  Easter  of  each  week, — 

"  Till  week-days,  following  in  their  train, 
The  fulness  of  the  blessing  gain  ; 
Till  all,  both  resting  and  employ, 
Be  one  Lord's  Day  of  holy  joy." 


238  SERMONS   ON   THE 

It  is  an  unspeakable  privilege  to  live  in  days  when 
the  angelic  voices  are  to  be  heard  ;  and  we  never  hear 
them  more  distinctly,  and  are  never  more  sure  that  they 
are  from  heaven,  than  when,  in  our  human  weakness,  we 
are  afraid,  and  our  faces  are  bowed  down  to  the  earth. 
It  would  be  agony  sometimes  to  look  upon  the  poor 
stricken  body,  over  which  the  change  may  have  passed 
almost  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  if  the  spirit  which 
leads  us  into  all  blessed  and  consoling  truths  were  not 
waiting  for  the  opportunity  to  say,  "  He  is  not  here,  but 
is  risen;"  for  that  is  what  the  spirit  whispers  in  the 
heart  of  every  true  believer  since  the  Lord  abolished 
death.  The  bridegroom  has  been  taken  from  them,  and 
the  children  of  the  bridechamber  may  well  mourn ;  but 
it  is  a  holy  and  hopeful  sorrow  which  moves  their  hearts, 
and  they  are  lifted  at  once  into  heavenly  places  with  the 
departed,  and  he  is  transfigured  before  them ;  and  the 
eyes  which  were  holden  before  that  they  could  not  see 
are  anointed;  and,  because  he  lives,  we  live.  Listen 
now,  as  you  never  yet  have  listened,  for  the  angelic 
voices.  It  is  a  nation's  opportunity  to  grow  into  a 
deeper  faith  in  the  everlasting  life, —  a  faith  that  death 
only  sets  free,  and  reveals  the  bound  and  hidden  soul. 
It  is  a  faith  which  we  owe  to  Christ.  He  changed  the 
philosopher's  opinion  and  the  people's  hope  into  a  prac 
tical  and  abiding  persuasion.  The  angels  did  not  light 
up  the  tomb  with  their  glowing  faces  and  shining  gar 
ments  until  he  was  laid  in  it.  Then  words  of  good 
cheer  were  heard,  which  were  not  passed  by  as  the  idle 
talcs  of  the  superstitious,  but  were  taken  up  as  most 
authentic  gospels,  and  proclaimed  wherever  men,  from 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  239 

fear  of  death,  were  subject  to  bondage.  It  is  our  blessed 
heritage  from  those  who  were  glad  because  they  had 
seen  the  Lord.  It  is  a  faith  which  we  can  have  in  its 
power  and  fulness  only  so  far  as  we  are  thoroughly 
Christian,  not  merely  in  the  reception  of  the  outward 
facts,  but  in  a  conformity  to  the  very  heart  and  mind  of 
Christianity.  It  is  a  faith  which  must  be  proportioned 
to  our  other  faiths,  and  chiefly  to  our  confidence  in  truth 
and  goodness  and  immortal  love.  Not  to  all  the  people 
is  Christ  revealed,  but  to  witnesses  chosen  before  of 
God,  who,  though  like  Thomas  they  might  hesitate  for  a 
moment,  could  not  scoff  like  the  Athenians  when  Jesus 
and  the  resurrection  were  named  together,  since  nothing 
could  be  more  credible  than  the  rising  of  such  a  Lord. 
Not  of  us  is  it  to  believe;  and  yet  God's  gift  is  also 
our  act,  and  we  must  exercise  ourselves  in  this  grace ; 
and  a  public  grief  so  heavy  and  so  unlooked  for,  and  so 
suggestive  of  anxious  questionings  as  this,  which  presses 
upon  all  hearts  to-day,  may  challenge  and  exalt  our 
faith  in  things  unseen,  and  help  us  to  taste  the  powers 
of  the  world  to  come,  even  more  than  a  private  sorrow. 
Let  this  be  the  measure  of  our  Christianity.  By  this 
let  us  know  whether  we  have  been  the  companions  and 
friends  of  Jesus,  —  whether  we  look  at  the  things 
which  are  seen,  or  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen, 
according  as  we  shall  be  able  to  look  up  from  the 
grave,  and  to  seek  for  the  living  in  their  appointed 
and  exalted  places.  God  is  not  the  God  of  the  dead. 
Truly  to  confess  Him  is  to  confess  the  life  everlasting. 
No  hand  of  violence  can  rob  you  of  aught  living,  or 
consign  you  to  hopeless  sorrowing  for  the  dead,  if  you 


240  SEKMONS   ON   THE 

yourself  are  truly  alive.  Find  the  soul  in  the  bod}''  whilst 
the  body  lives,  and  you  cannot  be  persuaded,  —  no,  not 
though  an  angel  from  heaven  should  say  it,  —  that, 
when  the  body  dies,  the  soul  too  goes  down  with  the 
dust  into  the  grave.  "  Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  thine 
Holy  One  to  see  corruption."  Oh,  for  that  strong  and 
ardent  faith,  which,  in  losing  a  visible  person,  gains  an 
invisible  life  !  —  a  life  which  is  ours  no  more  by  virtue 
of  corporal  contact  or  contiguity,  but  flows  in  upon  us 
through  channels  hidden  and  divine. 

It  is  a  blessed  faith  which  enables  us,  when  the  man 
is  gone,  to  rejoice  as  we  never  rejoiced  before  in  his 
high  and  gracious  manhood  ;  and,  when  the  countenance 
is  changed,  to  walk  more  gladly  and  steadfastly  than 
ever  before  in  the  pure  light  which  illumined  it,  and 
made  the  hard  lines  of  a  plain  and  often  sad  face  soft 
and  flowing  and  almost  comely.  It  is  a  blessed  faith 
which  so  joins  us  to  the  wisdom  and  goodness,  to  the 
honor  and  gentleness,  and  all  the  fair  and  sweet  human 
ities  of  our  friend,  that,  when  he  is  taken  from  us  in  a 
moment,  we  find  that  what  made  him  justly  dear  is 
more  ours  than  ever  ;  not  to  be  groped  for  among  the 
dead,  but  already  abroad  in  this  world  of  the  living  ; 
accomplishing  still  the  will  of  God  on  earth,  and 
amongst  the  children  of  men.  It  is  a  blessed  faith 
which  suffers  us  not  to  linger  over  our  dead  beyond  the 
just  time  of  a  natural  and  healthy  sorrow,  but  commits 
and  commends  us,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  the  paths  of 
our  daily  life  in  which  he  walked  ;  to  the  works  which 
he  was  not  permitted  to  do,  and  to  the  greater  works 
which  he  promised  ;  which  makes  him  more  to  us,  in  the 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  241 

way  of  inspiration  and  guidance,  than  he  could  have 
been  whilst  he  was  in  the  body.  In  mourning  for  the 
tabernacle  which  a  mad  and  wicked  hand  hath  invaded, 
do  not  forget  to  seize  and  appropriate  the  great  life 
which  hath  been  not  so  much  unclothed  as  clothed  upon. 
Disappoint  any  who  may  have  secretly  desired  or  planned 
this  great  crime,  by  showing  forth,  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  a  new  discipleship,  the  very  being,  the  very  persistent 
purpose,  which  they  would  have  put  out  of  the  world 
had  it  been  possible.  And  what  vengeance  is  to  be 
compared  with  that  divine  vengeance  which  multiplies 
a  thousand-fold  the  one  voice  that  a  cruel  death  has 
silenced,  and  makes  of  the  truth  which  was  buried  in  the 
ground  a  word  of  strength  and  joy  for  the  whole  world  ? 
There  is  a  crime  unto  death.  It  ought  not  to  be 
lightly  dealt  with.  Let  no  man  ask  that  it  may  be  for 
given  ;  but,  when  the  ministers  of  God  who  bear  not 
the  sword  in  vain  have  fulfilled  their  office,  and  the 
criminal  has  received  the  stern  sentence,  let  us  remem 
ber,  were  it  only  for  the  honor  and  the  love  which  we 
bear  to  our  dead,  the  generous  and  humane  spirit  that 
was  so  large  a  part  of  his  noble  manhood.  I  confess 
that  I  have  not  thought  that  they  mourn  for  him  wisely, 
who,  renouncing  his  spirit  before  his  poor  outraged  clay 
was  cold,  propose  to  be  bitter  and  revengeful  in  fact, 
though  not  of  course  in  name,  as  he  was  not.  Friends, — 
Christian  friends,  —  followers  of  him  whose  first  disciples 
were  as  loving  as  they  were  just,  let  us  not  forget  the 
many  sad  warnings  of  man's  history,  the  cheats  which 
his  deceitful  heart  has  put  upon  him ;  let  us  not  forget 
that  what  is  begun  in  righteousness  and  love  is  often 
21 


242  SERMONS. 

ended,  and  not  well,  in  unrighteousness  and  wrath.  We 
shall  have  lost  our  noble  leader  indeed,  if  we  lose  his 
spirit,  the  wise  and  considerate  mind,  the  excellent 
judgment,  the  tender,  humane  heart,  that  were  in  him ; 
if,  with  all  the  wrongs,  cruel  wrongs,  foul  wrongs,  that 
we  have  suffered  as  a  nation,  we  forget  that  we  are  a 
Christian  nation,  and  proceed  to  demand,  and  that,  too, 
in  the  name  of  our  gentle  sufferer,  measures  of  severity 
which  he  would  never  have  sanctioned;  so  taking 
advantage  of  his  dying,  to  thwart  one  of  the  high  aims 
of  his  living.  You  know  that  I  have  spoken  in  but  one 
voice  from  the  beginning  of  this  war,  pleading  for  its 
rightfulness  in  the  sight  of  the  highest  Christianity  ;  and 
so  you  will  not  misunderstand  my  warning,  lest,  misled 
by  passion,  and  not  following,  as  we  suppose,  our  man 
of  peace,  we  inaugurate  a  reign  of  terror  and  blood. 
God  grant  that  our  martyr  may  be  our  deliverer ;  that 
he  who  was  raised  up  in  the  most  manifest  providence 
of  the  Lord  to  be  our  counsellor  and  guide  in  our  years 
of  sore  trial,  may  still  rule  and  bless  the  people  from 
the  hiding-place  of  spiritual  power ;  and,  if  we  have 
had  occasion  to  distrust  him  who  is  now  called  to  the 
highest  seat,  may  our  fears  be  changed  into  hopes,  and 
the  desire  of  the  nation  be  accomplished !  * 

*  The  preacher  desires  that  the  paragraphs  above  may  not  be 
interpreted  as  recommending  lenity  to  the  authors  of  privy 
conspiracy  and  rebellion  ;  and  he  is  glad  to  add  that  the  circum 
stances,  well  known  to  the  country,  which  led  so  many  to  distrust 
our  present  national  "Chief  Magistrate,  have  been  explained,  by 
those  who  speak  with  authority,  to  his  entire  satisfaction. 


REV.    SAMUEL  K.  LOTHROP. 


2    SAMUEL    XIX:    2. 


AND  THE  VICTORY  THAT  DAY  WAS  TURNED  INTO  MOUENING 
UNTO  ALL  THE  PEOPLE. 


BRETHREN,  but  one  theme  can  command  your  attention 
this  morning.  Only  the  contemplation  of  one  event, 
solemn  and  momentous,  looked  at  in  the  light  of  that 
inscrutable  providence  which  is  ever  wise  and  merciful, 
studied  in  its  social  and  civil,  its  moral  and  religious 
aspects,  is  in  harmony  with  the  painful  emotions  that 
swell  our  hearts,  the  troubled  thoughts  that  are  pressing 
upon  our  minds. 

Three  days  since,  we  gathered  here  for  a  service  of 
humiliation,  of  human  appointment,  at  the  call  of  the 
civil  authorities  ;  God  so  ordered  it,  that  it  became  of 
necessity  a  service  of  gratitude  and  thanksgiving.  The 
black  cloud  of  treason  and  rebellion,  which  for  four 
years  had  lowered  over  the  land,  seemed  distinctly 
broken  and  scattered,  floating  away  in  the  distance. 
The  dawn  of  approaching  peace,  of  reunion,  of  pros 
perity,  of  a  glorious  and  honorable  future  for  the  nation, 
gave  clear  indications  that  it  must  ere  long  burst  upon 

21*  (245) 


246  SERMONS   ON   THE 

us  in  splendid  effulgence  ;  so  that,  though  conscious  of 
our  unworthiness,  we  could  not  think  of  our  sins  so 
much  as  of  the  divine  goodness  and  mercy. 

We  expected  to  gather  here  this  beautiful  Easter 
Sunday  with  our  thoughts  far  away  from  present  scenes, 
undisturbed  by  civil  cares  or  anxieties  ;  travelling  back 
to  that  holy  morning  hour  when  the  gates  of  the  sepul 
chre,  sealed  and  guarded  by  all  the  power  of  the  Caesars, 
were  riven,  and  "  the  Crucified "  came  forth,  and  the 
world  awoke  to  find  itself  bathed  with  new  light, 
clothed  with  an  immortal  hope,  refreshed  with  a  heav 
enly  benediction,  that  would  be  felt  anew  in  our  hearts 
on  this  grand  and  solemn  anniversary.  But  again  God 
has  otherwise  ordered.  We  cannot  forget  that  blessed 
and  stupendous  fact  in  his  providence,  —  the  resurrec 
tion  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  —  but  the 
echo,  coming  down  to  us  through  the  ages,  of  that 
glorious  declaration,  "  He  is  not  here,  he  is  risen," 
which  we  expected  would  break  upon  our  ears,  filling 
our  hearts  with  peace  and  gladness,  is  lost,  as  it  were, 
overborne  by  the  stunning  announcement  which  burst 
upon  us  yesterday  morning  :  "  He  is  dead,  —  Abraham 
Lincoln,  the  President  of  the  United  States,  is  dead,  — 
felled  by  the  hand  of  a  dastardly  assassin,  in  the  midst 
of  a  scene  of  quiet  and  peaceful  relaxation  from  the 
oppressive  cares  of  state."  We  cannot  put  from  our 
thoughts  that  sudden  and  startling  announcement,  that 
sad  and  solemn  event.  It  is  not  necessary  that  we 
should ;  nay,  it  is  every  way  meet  that  we  should  not. 
The  true  place  to  which  we  should  bring  this  great  be 
reavement,  this  atrocious  crime,  this  national  calamity, 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  247 

this  loss  to  the  world,  this  event,  the  magnitude  of 
whose  influences,  as  they  touch  the  relations  and  affect 
the  policy  of  our  own  or  other  nations,  cannot  be  com 
puted,  —  the  true  place  to  which  to  bring  it  and  all  the 
thoughts  and  emotions  it  awakens,  is  the  altar  of  God ; 
that  we  may  bow  there  with  a  submission  as  profound 
as  our  sorrow,  with  a  trust  as  deep  and  strong  as  our 
necessities. 

Brethren,  I  feel  almost  incompetent  to  direct  your 
thoughts  this  morning,  as  I  have  scarcely  been  able  for 
the  last  twenty-four  hours  to  collect  and  guide  my  own. 
Language  seems  impotent  to  give  utterance  to  all  that  I 
think  and  feel.  But,  doubtless,  your  experience  has  been 
similar  to  my  own.  Yesterday,  after  the  first  outburst 
of  my  sorrow,  and,  I  am  not  ashamed  to  add,  of 
righteous  indignation  against  the  fiendish  author  of  this 
terrific  tragedy,  the  instincts  of  faith  and  the  habit  of 
my  heart  prevailed,  and  I  heard,  as  it  were,  the  Holy 
Spirit  breathing  in  my  ear  the  solemn  and  sublime 
injunction,  "Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am  God;"  and 
there  was  borne  in  upon  my  mind,  also,  that  declaration 
of  the  patriarch  Jacob,  uttered  for  the  comfort  of  his 
children  as  they  were  about  to  be  deprived  of  the  coun 
sels  of  his  wisdom  and  the  joy  of  his  presence,  "  Behold 
I  die,  but  God  shall  be  with  you."  Our  first  duty,  my 
friends,  in  this  sad  hour,  now,  as  in  all  great  emergencies, 
public  and  private,  the  only  help,  comfort,  and  strength 
of  our  souls  is  to  turn  unto  God,  and  lean  upon  Him. 
We  must  strive  to  be  calm.  This  calamity  which  seems 
unspeakably  great,  this  bereavement  which  makes  a 
nation  weep  and  covers  a  mighty  land  with  mourning, 


248  SERMONS   ON   THE 

this  demon  deed,  instigated  by  the  brutal  passions,  and 
perpetrated  in  the  utter  moral  bewilderment,  which,  as 
many  incidents  in  this  war,  and  the  war  itself,  so  pain 
fully  and  so  conclusively  testify,  the  barbarous  institu 
tion  of  slavery  begets  in  the  human  heart,  was  within 
the  control  of  the  Almighty  Providence ;  and,  in  some 
way,  which  we  cannot  fathom,  it  will  be  made  to  con 
tribute  to  our  good,  and  the  furtherance  of  the  benignant 
purposes  of  that  Providence.  We  believe  this  ;  we  must 
strive  to  feel  it,  and  be  calm.  Many  have  been  accus 
tomed,  of  late,  to  regard,  and  to  speak  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,  as  a  providential  man.  Political  opponents,  as 
well  as  friends,  have  been  disposed  to  acquiesce  in  the 
epithet ;  the  idea  was  fast  getting  to  be  the  general  feel 
ing,  the  conviction  of  the  nation.  It  was  natural  that 
this  feeling  should  have  arisen,  have  grown  so  strong,  and 
been  so  cherished  as  to  become  a  conviction.  His  history 
and  character,  his  slender  opportunities,  and  marked 
abilities,  the  wonderful  way  in  which,  under  providence, 
he  has  presided  over  the  nation,  and  by  a  singularly 
wise,  calm,  unimpassioned,  but  firm  and  persevering 
policy,  carried  the  country,  with  honor  before  the  world, 
through  four  years  of  a  civil  war  which  has  no  parallel 
in  the  record  of  the  nations,  seem  to  justify  and  demand 
that  he  should  be  regarded  as  the  man  for  the  crisis, 
"  a  providential  man." 

"  I  called  thee  from  the  shoep-cote  to  be  ruler  over 
Israel,"  said  the  Lord  to  David,  and  the  words  have  an 
application  and  significance  here.  The  shepherd  of 
Hebron,  called  to  the  throne  of  Israel,  and  the  humble 
citizen  of  Illinois,  raised  from  the  lowly  sphere  of  private 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  249 

life  to  the  most  august  position,  and  the  charge  of  the 
most  momentous  affairs,  as  President  of  the  United  States, 
have  a  providential  similitude,  which  we  may  rightfully 
recognize.  The  care  of  sheep  seemed  no  meet  prepara 
tion  for  the  cares  of  state :  and  the  humble  duties,  the 
limited  range  of  action,  and  small  experience  in  public 
national  affairs,  embraced  in  Mr.  Lincoln's  previous  life, 
seemed  but  a  meagre  preparation  for  the  exalted  post  he 
was  called  to  fill ;  the  weighty  and  responsible  trusts  he 
was  summoned  to  discharge.  It  will  be  the  verdict  of 
history  however,  it  is  the  admission  of  to-day,  it  is  the 
testimony  of  every  honest  and  unprejudiced  heart  in  the 
land,  that  he  has  discharged  these  duties  amid  circum 
stances  of  unparalleled  embarrassment  and  difficulty,  with 
vast  and  singular  wisdom.  Even  his  peculiarities  of  per 
son,  manners,  and  character,  unchanged  by  his  elevation 
to  exalted  station  and  large  power,  have  contributed  to  his 
usefulness  and  increased  his  personal  influence,  because 
they  have  been  rightfully  interpreted  as  indications  that 
the  man  was  greater  than  his  office,  and  therefore  com 
petent  to  its  duties  and  worthy  of  its  honors.  Never 
before,  I  apprehend,  has  any  man  been  invested  with  the 
august  dignity  of  the  Presidency  of  this  great  republic, 
and  been  so  little  changed  by  it ;  so  little  affected  by 
the  personal  aggrandizement,  so  free  from  the  intellectual 
and  moral  giddiness  often  consequent  upon  the  position. 
He  has  grown,  undoubtedly,  since  his  entrance  upon  his 
high  office;  grown  immensely  and  continually;  enlarged 
intellectually,  developed  morally  :  but  he  has  shown  all 
along,  and  concentrated  in  himself  thereby,  more  and 
more,  the  confidence  of  the  nation,  that  his  heart  was  as 


250  SERMONS   ON   THE 

warm,  his  nature  as  simple,  his  purpose  as  honest,  his 
judgment  as  strong  and  clear,  his  head  as  cool,  amid  all 
the  grandeur  and  glory  of  the  nation's  palace,  and  the 
shaping  of  the  nation's  course  and  policy,  as  they  were 
beneath  the  humble  roof  of  his  private  dwelling,  and 
the  little  routine  and  the  petty  cares  of  his  attorney's 
office  on  the  Western  prairies.  Such  indifference  or 
superiority  to  the  influence  of  outward  position  is  a  clear 
indication  of  something  great  and  strong  in  the  character. 
Forty  hours  ago,  my  friends,  I  presume  we  should  all 
have  acquiesced  in  speaking  of  Abraham  Lincoln  as 
*'  a  providential  man"  ;  and  the  expression  would  have 
been  an  indication  of  a  patriotic  cheerfulness,  trust,  and 
faith  in  our  hearts.  If  called  upon  to  justify  it,  we 
should  have  spoken  briefly  of  these  four  memorable 
years  ;  of  his  unquestionable  escape  from  assassination 
on  his  journey  to  Washington  for  his  first  inauguration  ; 
of  the  dark  prospects,  the  extraordinary  embarrassments 
under  which  he  assumed  the  reins  of  government,  and 
entered  upon  the  administration  of  our  affairs ;  of  his 
sagacity,  his  mingled  moderation  and  firmness  at  the 
outset ;  of  his  wonderful  wisdom  in  following  the  lead 
ings  of  Providence  and  the  course  of  events,  as  evinced 
in  his  various  proclamations  and  the  successive  steps 
of  his  policy ;  of  the  feeble  life  of  the  nation,  —  its 
existence  hanging  upon  a  thread,  —  and  of  the  all  but 
impotence  of  the  government,  as  he  received  it  from  the 
hands  of  his  predecessor ;  and  cf  the  healthy,  deep- 
throbbing  life  of  the  nation  at  this  hour ;  and  of  the 
government,  strong,  nay,  mighty  and  irresistible,  through 
the  nation's  confidence,  —  and  we  should  have  felt  that 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  251 

in  all  this  there  was  an  ample  justification  of  the  faith 
which  turned  trustingly  to  him  as  a  man  of  wonderful 
endowments,  raised  up  by  Providence  to  meet  a  momen 
tous  emergency  in  our  national  career. 

We  should  have  been  right  in  thus  feeling  ;  but  — 
and  here  is  the  point  and  purpose  of  what  I  have  said 
—  if  his  life  was  providential,  is  not  his  death  prov 
idential  also  ?  If  God  raised  him  up  for  a  grand 
purpose,  for  a  great  and  noble  work,  would  he  permit 
his  death,  and  that  purpose  unaccomplished,  that  work 
not  done  ?  He  has  not  fulfilled  all  our  wishes,  answer 
ed  all  our  expectations,  discharged  all  the  trusts  we 
reposed  in  him  ;  but  has  he  not  done  God's  work,  —  the 
work  God  gave  him  to  do  for  us  ?  Who  shall  dare  to 
assume  that  he  has  not  ?  Who  shall  refuse  to  hope  and 
to  believe,  that  events  will  reveal  the  Providence  in  his 
death  to  be  as  wise  and  benignant  as  the  Providence  in 
his  life.  Ah,  how  sad,  how  bereaved  the  Israelites  felt 
when  Moses  went  up  into  the  mountain,  and  returned 
not,  but  died  there  alone  !  For  forty  years  he  had  led 
them  in  the  wilderness,  and,  after  many  misgivings  on 
their  part,  become  the  object  of  their  reverence  and 
their  trust.  By  counsel  and  encouragement,  by  instruc 
tion  and  example,  he  had  sustained  them  in  all  the 
perils  and  privations  of  their  wanderings,  and  brought 
them  at  length,  under  the  divine  guidance,  to  the  banks 
of  the  Jordan,  which  they  were  about  to  pass,  and  to 
the  sight  of  the  promised  land,  which  they  were  about 
to  possess.  He  beheld  that  land,  and  saw  that  it  was 
beautiful  and  good,  but  was  not  permitted  to  enter  it. 
Israel  wept  at  his  fate  and  mourned  his  loss,  but  found 


252  SERMONS   ON  THE 

in  Joshua  another  leader  adequate  to  their  great 
necessities.  So  our  Israel  mourns  this  day  its  provi 
dential  leader  and  head.  A  resemblance  to  David,  in 
his  elevation  from  a  humble  to  an  exalted  station,  there 
is  a  resemblance  to  Moses  in  the  time,  though  not  in  the 
manner,  of  his  departure.  He  has  led  us  through  four 
years  of  terrible  civil  war ;  amid  the  occasional  mis 
givings  of  some  of  his  friends,  and  beneath  the  conflict 
of  parties,  he  has  steadily  gained  upon  the  confidence, 
the  respect  and  affection  of  the  nation  :  till  at  length 
it  may  be  safely  said,  that,  on  Friday  last,  there  was  no 
man  living  in  whose  political  wisdom  and  sagacity,  in 
whose  moderation  and  magnanimity,  in  whose  simple 
honesty  of  purpose,  and  broad,  unselfish  patriotism,  the 
great  mass  of  the  people,  of  all  sections  and  all  parties, 
reposed  such  confidence,  as  in  Abraham  Lincoln's.  It 
was  the  general,  the  all  but  universal  feeling,  that,  in 
some  just  and  right  way,  he  would  pilot  the  nation 
safely  and  honorably  through  to  a  glorious  peace  and  a 
blessed  reunion.  Like  Moses  on  the  banks  of  the 
Jordan,  he  saw  this  peace  in  near  prospect,  and  felt  that 
the  object  of  all  his  noble  efforts,  his  days  and  nights  of 
anxious  thought  and  painful  solicitude,  was  just  within 
his  grasp.  But,  like  Moses,  he  was  not  permitted  to 
enter  into  that  peace,  to  attain  personally  that  object. 
Suddenly,  like  a  bolt  from  heaven,  the  dastard  hand  of 
an  assassin  did  its  work,  and 

"He  who  cared  not  to  be  great, 
But  as  he  served  or  saved  the  State," 

passed  from  the  scene  of  his  glory  and  his  usefulness; 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  253 

and  the  universal  joy  in  our  recent  triumphs  and  cheer 
ing  prospects,  "the  victory  of  that  day  is  turned  into 
mourning  unto  all  the  people." 

Brethren,  our  first  and  our  last  duty,  the  beginning 
and  the  end  of  our  consolation,  our  only  help,  is  to  turn 
unto  God,  and  trust ;  to  feel  that  the  Lord  God  omnipo 
tent  reigneth,  and  that  all  will  be  well.  Even  beneath 
this  trust  there  is  sorrow  and  anxiety  in  our  hearts.  The 
death  of  our  President  at  this  crisis  is  a  tremendous  loss, 
and  I  would  not  say  one  word  to  diminish  your  sense  of 
it ;  for  it  can  hardly  be  over-estimated.  It  is  a  great 
national  calamity,  and  I  feel  it  to  be  so.  Every  nerve 
and  fibre  of  my  being  vibrates  to  it.  I  would  not  feel  it 
less,  or  have  you  feel  it  less.  It  comes  also  in  the  form 
of  an  atrocious  public  outrage  and  murder,  with  a  fear 
ful  shock  to  us  and  to  the  world.  For  the  first  time 
that  monster  crime,  —  to  be  abhorred  by  every  citizen  in 
every  land,  but  most  of  all  under  a  government  like  ours, 
— political  assassination  from  the  unhallowed  promptings 
of  political  and  party  passions,  stains  our  annals,  startles 
us  from  our  security,  ay,  and  from  our  dreams  of  for 
bearance  and  tenderness.  How  far  the  rebel  govern 
ment  or  leaders,  recently  at  Richmond,  were  privy  to  the  . 
fiendish  purpose  so  fatally  executed,  remains  to  be  ascer 
tained  and  proved  :  it  is  not  to  be  assumed.  That  they 
were  vindictive,  desperate,  and  cruel  enough  for  such 
privity,  the  stories,  too  terribly  authenticated  to  be 
doubted  or  denied,  of  the  Libby,  of  Belle  Isle,  and  of 
Andersonville,  are  conclusive  evidence  ;  and  I  confess 
that  my  strong  disposition  to  forbear,  forgive,  and  trust, 
grows  weak  ;  it  melts  away  almost,  before  that  indelible 
22 


254  SERMONS   ON   THE 

record  of  inhuman  barbarities,  deliberately,  perseveringly 
practised,  month  after  month,  upon  defenceless  men, 
prisoners  of  war,  within  immediate  reach,  within  sight 
almost  of  the  headquarters  of  the  most  distinguished 
general  of  the  Confederate  armies,  whose  friends  claim 
for  him  that  he  is  a  chivalrous,  magnanimous,  high- 
toned  gentleman.  Let  him.  show  that  he  had  no 
knowledge  of  these  barbarities,  or  having  knowledge, 
had  no  power  to  prevent  them ;  let  him  show  that 
he  ever  uttered  to  his  soldiers  or  his  government  a 
word  of  remonstrance  against  them ;  then,  but  not 
till  then,  may  his  claim  to  magnanimity,  and  the  sym 
pathies  of  his  former  fellow-citizens,  and  the  compas 
sionate  regards  of  honorable  and  merciful  men,  be 
admitted.  Judging  from  what  we  know  of  his  posi 
tion  and  his  power,  the  record  is,  at  present,  a  foul 
blot  against  his  name.  Let  him  wipe  it  out  if  he  can. 
None  will  rejoice  more  than  I,  if  he  can  do  so.  I  wait, 
the  country  \\aits,  the  world  waits  for  him  to  do  it,  ere 
the  decision  is  made  as  to  the  estimation  in  which  his 
treason,  and  his  character  as  the  great  military  chieftain 
of  the  rebellion,  are  to  be  held.  As  the  record  stands, 
the  rebel  government  and  leaders  at  Richmond  have 
shown  themselves  base  and  cruel  enough  to  be  privy  to 
this  dastard  deed  of  outrage  and  murder,  but  it  is  diffi 
cult  to  conceive  that  they  were  weak  enough  for  that 
privity.  All  human  experience,  the  history  of  all  simi 
lar  crimes,  would  teach  them  that  this  would  recoil  upon 
themselves  with  a  terrible  vengeance  and  fearful  retribu 
tion, — would  dishonor  them  before  the  world,  make  them 
and  their  cause  infamous  in  the- judgment  of  every  civil- 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  255 

ized  government.  They  must  have  known,  also,  all  the 
leaders  and  people  of  the  rebel  states,  if  not  utterly 
bereft  of  reason,  and  blinded  by  passion,  must  have  per 
ceived  and  felt  that  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln  would 
deprive  them  of  the  best  and  strongest  friend  they  had 
at  the  North  ;  of  the  man  whose  disposition  prompted, 
and  whose  office  and  influence  would  enable  him  to 
secure  for  them  as  large  a  forbearance,  as  generous  and 
magnanimous  a  treatment  as  could  possibly  be  granted 
to  the  authors  of  so  much  mischief, — the  instigators  and 
leaders  in  a  political  crime  so  gigantic  in  its  proportions, 
its  monstrous  purpose  defeated  at  such  cost  of  blood  and 
treasure  to  the  nation.  No  !  There  must  be  clearer 
proof  before  I  can  believe  that  the  leaders  at  Richmond 
were  so  weak  and  bewildered  as  to  be  privy  to  this  con 
spiracy  for  assassination.  There  is  no  heart  in  the  land, 
I  apprehend,  to  which  this  terrible  event  will  bring  a 
sharper  pang  than  to  that  of  the  President  of  the  Con 
federate  States :  a  pang  not  of  sympathy,  but  of  fear ; 
because  he  will  read  in  it  the  foreshadowing  of  his  own 
doom,  the  closing  of  the  gates  of  mercy  against  himself, 
should  he  ever  be  brought  within  the  grasp  of  that  gov 
ernment  whose  laws  he  has  defied,  whose  liberties  he 
has  trampled  upon  when  he  could,  and  whose  existence 
he  has  attempted  to  destroy. 

But  though  there  were  no  privity, —  and  for  the  honor 
of  our  common  humanity,  I  hope  it  may  be  clearly  shown 
that  there  was  none, —  a  fearful  responsibility  rests  upon 
the  rebel  leaders  and  government.  This  crime,  "  the 
deep  damnation  of  this  taking  off"  by  assassination, 
runs  back  to  them  by  the  irresistible  logic  of  cause  and 


256  SERMONS   ON  THE 

effect.  It  is  the  natural  product  of  the  spirit  and  prin 
ciples  they  have  constantly  manifested.  It  is  the  full  and 
perfect  out-flowering  of  that  ignorance  and  passion,  that 
rancor  and  hate  towards  the  North  which  they  have  stu 
diously  endeavored  to  cherish  in  the  southern  heart.  It 
is  the  last,  culminating,  decisive  testimony  to  the  debasing, 
morally  bewildering,  and  unhumanizing  influence  of  that 
institution  of  slavery  which  they  would  have  made  the 
corner  stone  of  the  political  edifice  they  proposed  to  rear. 
The  judgment  of  the  world,  therefore,  the  verdict  of  his 
tory,  I  apprehend,  will  hold  them  largely  responsible  for 
a  deed  which  secures  to  its  perpetrator  an  unenviable 
immortality  in  the  records  of  crime,  gives  his  name 
a  conspicuous  place  on  the  dark  list  of  those  around 
whose  memories  gather  more  and  more,  as  the  years 
roll  on,  the  execrations  of  mankind. 

But  let  us  turn  from  these  thoughts.  They  would 
come  up  in  my  heart ;  I  could  not  prevent  it.  But  I 
did  not  wish  to  keep  them  there ;  I  preferred  to  let 
them  out,  and  so  have  given  them  utterance.  We  have 
been  stunned  by  a  sudden  calamity,  and  stand  aghast 
at  the  awful  mode  of  its  coming.  In  the  midst  of  our 
cheerfulness,  under  the  smiles  of  a  brighter  day  than 
we  had  known  for  four  years,  and  whose  to-morrow 
promised  to  be  brighter  still,  we  have  been  suddenly 
thrown  into  utter  darkness,  by  the  foul  murder  of  the 
President  of  the  republic.  Without  warning  or  prepa 
ration,  we  have  been  visited  by  what  to  our  short-sighted 
wisdom  seems  an  irreparable  loss,  and  in  a  moment  all 
our  joy  in  "  the  victory  of  that  day  is  turned  into  mourn 
ing  unto  all  the  people "  ;  and  again  I  urge  that  our  first 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  257 

duty  is  to  turn  unto  God  and  be  calm,  our  only  strength 
to  have  the  thought  of  our  hearts  and  the  prayer  of  our 
lips,  "  the  Lord's  will  be  done."  God  is  still  with  us, 
— here  is  the  great  consolation  and  help  of  the  soul. 

"  Human  watch  from  harm  can't  ward  us  : 
God  will  keep,  and  God  will  guard  us." 

Human  wisdom,  the  prophet,  the  counsellor,  the  mighty 
man,  may  depart ;  but  the  wisdom  of  God  abides  to 
illumine  a  new  generation,  and  to  guide  his  children  in 
the  way.  From  the  beginning  until  now,  and  especially 
in  the  great  struggle,  which,  notwithstanding  this  sore 
bereavement,  we  may  still  devoutly  hope  is  approaching 
its  conclusion,  our  land  has  received  so  many  tokens  of 
the  divine  favor,  that  to  doubt  the  guardian  care  of  God, 
and  the  merciful  purposes  of  his  providence  towards  this 
nation  and  the  interests  of  liberty  and  humanity,  so 
bound  up  with  its  preservation,  would  be  a  sin.  We 
may  still  trust,  it  is  our  duty  to  trust,  that  behind  this 
dark  cloud  there  is  wisely  hid  some  great  mercy,  which 
shall  one  day  be  revealed  amid  the  adoring  acknowledg 
ments  of  ourselves  or  our  children. 

After  this  trust  in  God,  our  next  duty  is  to  cherish 
in  grateful  reverence  the  memory  of  the  man  and  the 
magistrate  whose,  to  us  untimely,  fate  we  mourn,  and 
gather  up  the  lessons  which  his  example  teaches  and 
his  death  enforces.  I  am  not  adequate,  had  I  time,  for 
the  presentation  of  the  prominent  points  in  his  life, 
or  a  sharp  analysis  and  delineation  of  his  character.  I 
remember,  in  the  only  interview  I  ever  had  with  him, 
22* 


258  SERMONS   ON   THE 

in  the  autumn  of  1861,  at  Washington,  in  company  with 
twenty  or  thirty  other  persons,  each  of  whom  had  his 
special  purpose  in  the  visit,  and  went  up  in  his  turn  to 
present  it,  that  I  was  at  first  amused,  not  to  say  offended, 
at  what  seemed  an  undignified  levity,  and  a  marvellous 
facility  in  conveying  or  enforcing  his  answers  to  the 
various  requests  presented,  by  telling  some  story,  the 
logic  of  whose  application  to  the  case  in  point  was 
unmistakably  clear.  During  this  part  of  the  interview 
I  was  led  to  wonder  where  was  the  power  ?  how  had  this 
man  so  impressed  himself  upon  the  people  of  the  coun 
try,  as  to  be  elevated  to  the  position  he  occupied  ?  That 
wonder  ceased,  that  inquiry  was  answered,  before  I  left 
the  presence.  A  lady  made  application  for  the  release 
of  her  brother,  who  had  been  arrested  for  disloyalty  by 
the  major-general  commanding  in  the  vicinity  of  Frede 
rick,  Maryland.  The  President  declined  to  interfere,  on 
the  ground  that  he  knew  nothing  of  the  circumstances 
but  what  she  had  told  him,  and  that  the  arrest  and  de 
tention  were,  necessarily,  within  the  discretionary  power 
of  the  major-general  commanding  in  the  district.  Con 
siderable  conversation  ensued,  and  some  tears  were  shed  ; 
and,  at  length,  the  President  consented  to  indorse  upon 
her  petition,  which  was  to  be  forwarded  to  the  major- 
general,  that  he  had  no  objection  to  the  release,  provided 
the  general  thought  it  compatible  with  the  public  safety. 
As  he  gave  her  back  the  petition,  with  this  indorsement, 
he  said,  and  I  think  I  remember  very  nearly  his  exact 
words  :  "  Madam,  I  desire  to  say  that  there  is  no  man 
who  feels  a  deeper  or  more  tender  sympathy  than  I  do, 
with  all  cases  of  individual  sorrow,  anxiety,  and  grief 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  259 

like  yours,  which  these  unhappy  troubles  occasion  ;  but  I 
see  not  how  I  can  prevent  or  relieve  them.  I  am  here 
to  administer  this  Government,  to  uphold  the  Constitu 
tion,  to  maintain  the  Union  of  the  United  States. 
That  is  my  oath ;  before  God  and  man,  I  must,  I  mean 
to  the  best  of  my  ability,  to  keep  that  oath ;  and,  how 
ever  much  my  personal  feelings  may  sympathize  with 
individual  sorrows  and  anxieties,  I  must  not  yield  to 
them.  They  must  all  give  way  before  the  great  public 
exigencies  of  the  country !  "  I  shall  never  forget  the 
simple  majesty,  the  grandeur  and  force  with  which  these 
few  sentences  were  uttered,  or  their  effect.  In  a  moment 
the  room  was  as  still  as  death.  The  little  audience  that 
had,  just  before,  been  laughing  at  his  stories,  were  awed 
and  impressed,  thrilled  through  and  through  by  these 
few  solemn  and  earnest  words.  They  were  a  revela 
tion  of  the  man.  They  made  me  feel  that  there  was 
a  power  in  him  that  gave  him  a  right  to  be  where  he 
was.  That  right  he  has  vindicated  more  and  more  every 
hour  since  his  first  inauguration.  That  he  has  made  no 
mistakes,  that  he  was  at  all  times  superior  to  the  weak 
nesses  of  our  nature,  or  the  faults  of  humanity,  it  would 
be  neither  wise  nor  truthful  to  maintain.  I  look  for 
light  and  explanation  to  be  thrown  upon  some  acts  and 
incidents  of  his  administration  ;  but  I  have  confidence 
that  that  light  will  reveal  reasons  which  will  show  them 
to  have  been  wise  and  right,  and  establish  a  patriotic 
integrity  of  purpose  that  will  do  him  honor.  In  general, 
the  exhibition  of  himself,  made  these  last  four  years,  is 
proof  to  us,  and  to  the  world,  that  he  was  largely 
endowed  with  many  large  and  noble  qualities ;  and  for 


260  SERMONS  ON  THE 

his  fidelity  in  his  high  office,  for  his  wisdom,  firmness, 
and  moderation,  for  his  genuine  simplicity  and  homely 
ways,  for  his  tenderness  and  compassion,  his  watchful 
guardianship  of  the  great  interests  of  liberty,  and  all  his 
incalculable  services  to  the  country,  which  he  has  done 
as  much  as  any  man  to  save,  I  hold  him  in  grateful 
reverence  and  honor  ;  and  now  that  he  has  fallen,  a  noble 
martyr  to  a  noble  cause,  coming  generations  will  rise  up, 
and  bless  his  name,  which  will  grow  grander  and  brighter 
through  all  coming  time,  and  stand  highest  among  the 
names  of  those  whom  the  world  cannot  afford  to  forget. 
In  some  lines  from  Tennyson's  Ode  on  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  I  find  the  most  fitting  description  of  his 
character  and  our  duty  to  his  memory : 

"  O,  friends !  our  chief  State  oracle  is  mute ; 
Mourn  for  the  man  of  long-enduring  blood, 
The  statesman,  moderate,  wise,  resolute, 
Whole  in  himself,  a  common  good. 
Mourn  for  the  man  of  amplest  influence, 
Our  greatest,  yet  with  least  pretence, 
Rich  in  saving  common  sense, 
And,  as  the  greatest  only  are, 
In  his  simplicity,  sublime. 
O  voice,  from  which  their  omens  all  men  drew, 
O  iron  nerve,  to  true  occasion  true, 
O  fallen  at  length  that  tower  of  strength, 
Which  stood  four  square  to  all  the  winds  that  blew. 
His  life  was  work,  his  language  rife 
With  rugged  maxims  hewn  from  life, 
His  voice  is  silent  in  your  council  hall 
Forever ;  and  whatever  tempests  lower 
Forever  silent ;  even  if  they  broke 
In  thunder,  silent ;  yet  remember  all 
He  spoke  among  you,  and  the  man  who  spoke." 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  261 

But  there  is  other  work  for  us  than  remembrance. 
We  may  not  dwell  always  on  the  past.  The  exigencies 
of  the  country,  the  duties  of  patriotism,  the  calls  to  be 
faithful  in  the  great  struggle  to  which  the  nation  has 
been  summoned,  and  which  is  not  yet  ended,  these 
abide  ;  and  the  national  calamity  over  which  we  mourn 
should  be  in  all  our  hearts  a  quickening  incentive  to 
persevering  effort.  "  God  buries  his  workmen,  but  carries 
on  his  work."  The  individual  dies,  the  generations  pass ; 
but  the  interests  of  humanity  remain,  and  the  nation 
continues.  Abraham  Lincoln  is  dead.  Peace  be  to  his 
memory,  and  immortal  his  fame.  But  the  President  of 
the  United  States  still  lives,  the  embodiment  of  the 
nation's  life  and  power;  and  the  first  duty  of  patriotism 
now, —  the  duty  to  which  this  open  grave  around  which 
the  nation  is  standing  gives  a  mighty  emphasis, — is  to 
gather  around  that  President,  and  by  the  fresh,  earnest, 
manly  expression  of  our  sympathy  and  confidence,  give 
him  strength  and  assurance  for  the  high  duties  he  is 
suddenly  called  to  discharge.  There  is  one  dark  hour, 
which  he  perhaps  remembers  with  a  keener  sorrow  than 
any  of  us.  Is  not  a  ray  of  light  thrown  upon  that  hour 
by  recent  events  ?  What  one  conspirator  accomplished 
by  a  fatal  pistol-shot,  may  not  another  in  another  instance 
have  attempted  through  the  poisoner's  drugs,  so  that  an 
incident  of  the  fourth  of  March  last,  especially  when  the 
subsequent  illness  and  prostration  are  considered,  ought 
in  justice  perhaps  to  be  interpreted  not  as  a  personal 
fault,  but  the  crime  of  others  ?  This  is  clear  :  we  are 
not  to  confound  an  accident  with  a  habit,  and  our  first 
duty — the  first  duty  of  the  nation  —  is  to  let  the  new 


262  SERMONS   ON   THE 

President  see  that  it  remembers  only,  and  recalls  with 
grateful  confidence,  his  undaunted  loyalty,  his  noble 
efforts,  his  patriotic  labors  and  sacrifices  from  the  begin 
ning  of  the  war  until  now.  As  yet,  he  is  to  a  certain 
extent  an  unknown  quantity  to  us,  as  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  four  years  ago.  It  depends  largely  upon  us,  the  peo 
ple,  to  aiford  the  elements  that  shall  solve  the  problem, 
and  determine  what  this  unknown  quantity  is,  its  value 
and  its  power.  Let  the  new  President  feel  that  he  has 
the  respect  and  confidence  of  the  people,  and  it  will  help 
mightily  to  make  him  and  keep  him  worthy  of  them. 
Let  him  feel  that  he  has  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  people  and  it  will  be  to  him  a  great  power,  whereby 
to  maintain  the  honor  and  glory,  to  secure  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  nation. 

In  conclusion,  my  friends,  let  me  urge  you  to  a 
personal  improvement  of  this  solemn  event.  While  it 
reveals  to  us  the  depths  of  wickedness  and  of  moral 
madness  into  which  the  soul  may  be  plunged,  it  gives 
an  impressive  emphasis  to  the  injunction,  "Be  ye  also 
ready,  for  in  such  an  hour  as  ye  think  not  the  Son  of 
Man  cometh."  Of  what  awaits  us  beyond  the  present 
moment,  we  know  with  certainty  but  this  one  thing  — 
death.  Exalted  station,  important  services,  noble  useful 
ness,  the  charge  of  public  trusts  and  interests  of  un 
speakable  magnitude,  these  nor  aught  else  can  avail  to 
stay  the  hand  or  avert  the  blow  of  death.  In  his 
presence  and  before  his  power  there  is  a  stern  and 
solemn  equality  of  all  men.  All  must  die.  But  how,  or 
when,  or  where  ?  All  inquiry  is  baffled,  speculation  is 
vain,  reasoning  at  fault.  In  apparent  peril,  we  escape ; 


DEATH   OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  263 

seemingly  secure,  we  fall.  The  President  at  Richmond, 
we  feared.  It  was  an  exposure,  but  a  beautiful  and 
touching  drama.  Returned  to  Washington,  we  breathe 
freely.  He  is  safe.  Nothing  can  touch  him  in  the 
capital.  But  there,  unannounced,  with  no  foreshadow 
ing,  the  destroyer  met  him  ;  and,  in  a  moment,  of  all 
that  he  had,  and  of  all  that  he  was,  nothing  is  of  import 
ance  to  him,  nothing  stands  him  in  stead  now  but  his 
goodness  of  heart,  the  simple  honesty  of  faith,  through 
which  he  sought  to  do  God's  will  and  promote  man's 
good.  Our  death,  the  death  of  any  one  of  us,  can  never 
attract  the  attention,  or  be  the  great  public  event  his 
was,  but  to  ourselves  personally  it  will  be  more  import 
ant  and  solemn  ;  and,  like  his,  may  come  suddenly,  when 
we  least  expect  it.  By  holiness  of  heart  and  life,  by 
consecration  of  ourselves  through  faith  in  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  to  great  purposes  for  which  he  suffered  and 
died,  by  a  daily  walk  in  the  light  of  his  truth  and  the 
culture  of  his  spirit,  let  us  be  ever  ready,  so  that  life,  if 
prolonged,  may  be  noble,  useful,  holy ;  and  death,  when 
it  comes,  may  be  gain,  —  the  gain  of  heaven  and  immor 
tality. 


REV.   EDWARD  E.   HALE 


23 


1    CORINTHIANS  XV:  57. 


WHO    GIVETH   US    THE    VICTORY    THROUGH    OUR    LORD    JESUS 

CHRIST. 


THE  contrasts  of  Passion  Week  are  those  of  human 
triumph,  of  death  in  agony,  and  of  ETERNAL  LIFE. 

The  week  begins  with  the  Sunday  of  victory,  —  Palm 
Sunday,  —  when  the  Lord  rides  in  triumph  into  the 
city.  From  day  to  day  the  triumph  takes  different 
forms,  till  on  Friday  the  whole  changes.  His  life  ends 
at  the  hands  of  treachery  and  murder.  Then  comes  the 
last  of  Jewish  Sabbaths,  —  that  Saturday  sad  beyond 
words.  And  then  on  this  first  day  of  the  week,  He 
rises  :  all  the  chains  of  earth  are  broken  forever ;  and, 
from  that  moment,  man  knows  he  is  immortal.  Human 
triumph  !  Then,  death  in  agony  !  Then,  the  unveiling 
of  Eternal  Life.  These  are  our  contrasts.  Hidden  in 
them  are  our  lessons.  Never  since  has  the  world 
needed  them  as  we  need  them  this  day  ! 

Of  their  Sunday  of  triumph  we  cannot  paint  the 
picture,  without  recalling  their  year,  as  it  had  gone  by. 
These  apostles,  who  could  not  understand,  could  feel 
and  wonder.  They  had  walked  up  and  down  through 

(207) 


268  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  cities  of  Israel.  They  had  proclaimed  the  new 
kingdom.  They  had  named  the  King.  Nay,  they  had 
heard  him  sometimes  make  fit  promise  of  his  empire. 
He  had  spoken  of  it  as  the  one  thing  certain.  He  had 
laid  down  its  constitution  and  laws.  At  his  word 
thousands  had  followed.  To  his  word  thousands  had 
listened.  At  his  word,  again,  the  multitudes  had  melted 
away.  The  very  voice  of  God  had  testified  that  here 
was  God's  beloved  Son. 

Yet  there  was,  till  now,  no  sign  of  empire  !  He 
would  not  give  a  sign.  If  he  fed  these  thousands,  it 
was  that  they  might  leave  him.  His  prophet,  John, 
had  been  beheaded  by  a  tyrant.  His  own  overtures  to 
the  rulers  had  been  rejected  with  scorn.  We  can 
imagine  then  the  darkness  which  brooded  over  even  the 
faithful's  faith,  till  the  Sunday  of  victory  came.  Then, 
after  such  anxiety,  all  seems  changed.  They  have 
endured  to  the  end.  Surely  now  they  are  safe. 
Hosanna  !  hosanna  !  Victory  !  victory  !  Even  the 
capital  has  opened  its  gates  to  us.  Here  are  coming 
out  its  very  children,  with  their  palms  and  their  songs. 
"  The  Son  of  David  !  The  Son  of  David  !  Hosanna  ! 
hosanna  !  Blessed  is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  !  Hosanna  in  the  highest !  "  Thus  the  week 
begins. 

Easy  to  picture  such  exultant  joy,  when  seen  on  a 
background  of  a  year's  defeat,  anxiety,  long-suffering, 
and  gloom. 

Nor,  as  the  week  goes  by,  docs  their  mood  change. 
True,  the  capital  can  open  its  gates  but  once.  There 
can  be  but  one  triumphal  entry.  When  the  enemy  sur- 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  269 

renders  Sunday,  he  cannot  surrender  again  on  Monday. 
But  the  week  scorns  victory  !  Speculators  and  brokers 
are  driven,  crestfallen,  from  the  temple.  The  lovers  of 
the  nation's  enemies  follow  them,  —  the  Herodians.  The 
lovers  of  wealth  ;  they  are  driven  out  also,  set  to  scorn, 
—  the  Sadducces.  The  hypocrites  who  exalt  them 
selves  and  curse  the  people,  all  are  rebuked  in  turn,  — 
the  Pharisees.  "  Lord,  what  shall  be  the  sign  of  thy 
coming  ? "  That  question  is  key-note  to  the  apostles' 
feeling,  when  the  eve  of  Friday  comes. 

And  then,  victory  is  changed  in  a  moment  into 
treachery,  blood,  and  death  ! 

Of  his  feelings  we  can  say  nothing  but  what  he  tells 
us.  There  is  no  likeness  which  we  can  compare  to  him. 
But,  his  enemies  :  ah,  wicked  men  and  mean  men  are 
so  common,  that  we  have  seen  them  with  these  eyes. 
Whether  they  deal  with  the  son  of  God,  or  whether  they 
work  in  some  mean  cabal  of  their  own  lust,  they  are 
always  the  same.  What  the  soldiery  of  Herod  could 
not  do  ;  what  the  officers  of  Caiaphas  could  not  compass ; 
what  Pilate  was  not  mean  enough  to  descend  to,  — 
could  be  wrought  out,  when  that  fatal  Friday  came,  by 
this  coward  Judas,  with  his  midnight  kiss.  Of  Judas, 
the  world  has  never  known  precisely  what  was  his 
fate,  or  what  his  character  ;  whether  he  were  finished 
villain,  or  whether  he  were  fanatic  fool.  Satan  chooses 
such  accomplices.  Such  tool  served  the  purpose 
of  crafty  Caiaphas  ;  and,  by  the  work  of  such  tool, 
even  the  Lord  of  Life  can  be  betrayed.  They  seize 
him  ;  they  lead  him  out  to  Calvary ;  they  kill  him, 
the  world's  best  friend  ;  nay,  their  best  friend,  if  they 


270  SERMONS   ON   THE 

knew  it ;  the  only  friend  in  the  Universe  of  God, 
who,  at  that  hour,  was  seeking  to  save  them.  So  that 
never  were  words  so  terribly  true  as  the  words  of  his 
prayer,  —  "  they  know  not  what  they  do."  From  the 
terribb  retribution  which  came  upon  them  so  soon ;  the 
retribution  in  which  women  drank  the  blood  of  their 
own  infants  ;  in  which  brothers  fought  brothers  to  the 
death,  in  the  ruins  of  their  own  temple,  —  he  whom  that 
day  they  slew  was  the  only  being  who  could  have  saved 
them.  And  so,  praying  for  them,  he  died. 

And  his  mother  and  his  well-beloved  crept  out  from 
their  hiding-places,  and  wept  over  him  !  And  they  laid 
him  in  a  tomb,  wherein  never  man  lay.  And  his 
enemies  sealed  the  stone  with  such  cements  as  man  can. 
devise  ;  and  set  over  it  such  sentry  police  as  Roman 
wit  in  arms  had  trained.  And  then  came  the  Sabbath, 
—  the  Jewish  Sabbath,  the  last  day  of  the  week  ;  — 
saddest  of  days  till  then. 

"  Is  this  the  end  ? "  we  can  almost  hear  Nathaniel 
saying  to  Philip  ;  "  better  I  had  staid  brooding  under 
my  fig-tree  ;  my  poet-dreams,  so  vague  and  dim,  were 
yet  better  than  this  horrid  certainty  !  "  "Is  this  the 
end  ?  "  might  Andrew  say  to  Simon  Peter  ;  "  better  we 
had  swept  the  lake, — better  traded  fish  in  the  market 
place  our  lives  long,  than  come  to  look  on  such 
horror ! "  "  Is  this  the  end  ? "  might  John,  son  of 
Thunder,  say  to  his  fierce,  brother  James.  "  Better  had 
we  cast  in  our  lot  with  Theudas,  rushed  on  the  Roman 
spear  and  shield,  and  died  in  fight  like  men  !  "  "Is  this 
the  end?"  might  Mary  mother,  whisper;  "  better  had 
my  child  died  in  his  infant  innocence,  when  Herod  slew 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  271 

the  others  in  Bethlehem."  But  no,  this  is  not  the 
end. 

"  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world." 

"  The  works  that  I  do,  shall  he  do  also ;  and  greater 
works  than  these  shall  he  do." 

Such  is  the  promise.  And  when  the  sad  Saturday 
has  at  last  crept  by ;  and  when  the  light  of  this  darker 
morning  just  begins  to  break  ;  when,  on  that  night,  so 
cold,  and  black,  there  just  creeps  up  the  ray  of  promise, 
lo,  it  is  a  blush  of  hope  !  The  grave  cannot  hold  him. 
These  keepers  fall  fainting  on  the  ground.  This  man- 
sealed  rock  rolls,  tottering,  from  its  bed.  And  he  is 
risen  !  as  he  said. 

He  was  the  well  beloved  Son  of  God.  Yes  ;  and  we 
are  all  God's  children.  Children  of  God's  nature,  — 
and  therefore  immortal,  as  is  he.  We  are  his  children. 
Children  ?  Yes !  and  therefore  he  gives  to  us  the 
victory. 

God  is  with  us,  and  we  are  with  him.  Therefore 
there  is  no  death  to  us,  nor  to  his  purpose  failure. 
It  may  please  him  to  call  away  even  our  Saviour 
from  our  sight.  But  if  he  goes  away,  the  Holy 
Spirit  comes  !  It  may  please  him  to  bring  in  his 
kingdom,  as  Israel  has  not  dreamed.  But,  none  the 
less  certainly,  does  his  kingdom  come  !  It  may  please 
him  to  win  that  victory  by  the  Saviour's  death  on 
Calvary ;  nay,  to  give  to  a  dying  thief  at  his  Saviour's 
side  the  first  laurels  of  triumph.  The  victory  may  bo 
won  when  Stephen  faints ;  when  James  is  beheaded  ; 
when  Paul  and  Barnabas  are  stoned.  But  none  the  less 


272  SERMONS   ON  THE 

is  it  victory !  It  is  not  upon  fields  of  battle  only  that 
lie  asks  for  his  martyrs.  At  the  hands  of  Herod, 
dying  of  lust,  he  will  call  away  St.  James.  At  the 
wish  of  a  dancing  harlot,  will  John  Baptist  give  his 
head.  But  they  are  martyrs  still !  And  when  their 
Master  dies,  because  he  has  given  a  Judas  the  access 
to  his  person  ;  when,  on  the  morning  of  this  "  day  of 
days,"  he  rises  ;  to  all  such  martyrs,  nay  to  all  God's 
martyrs  in  all  time,  —  to  all  their  brethren  —  nay, 
to  all  his  brethren,  in  all  time,  —  God  promises,  that, 
while  they  will  and  do  of  his  good  pleasure,  He  will 
give  to  them  the  victory ! 

[The  choir  then  sang  the  anthem,  by  Rev.  Henry 
Ware:  "Lift  your  glad  voices  in  triumph  on  high." 
After  the  anthem,  Mr.  Hale  said:] 

I  cannot  think  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  try 
to  illustrate  the  lesson  of  scripture.  The  contrasts 
which  we  have  been  tracing  in  the  history,  as  we  might 
have  traced  them  last  year  or  any  year  since  that  history 
passed,  teach  us  the  lessons  of  to-day,  so  that  we  cannot 
fail  to  learn  them.  We  often  tell  you  from  the  pulpit 
that  there  is  no  experience  of  your  lives,  however  glad 
or  however  painful,  however  great  or  however  small,  for 
which  you  do  not  find  fit  lesson  in  these  experiences  of 
your  Saviour's  life.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  always 
believe  this.  But  I  am  sure  you  feel  it  and  believe  it  in 
the  great  trial  of  to-day, —  in  these  terrible  contrasts  of 
the  week  that  has  gone  by.  Sunday,  our  day  of  triumph : 
and,  Monday,  again,  we  thronged  the  temple  here  with 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  273 

our  praises.  Each  day,  a  new  victory ;  each  day  a 
new  congratulation;  till,  when  Thursday  came, —  the 
fast  day  of  our  old  Puritan  calendar, —  we  did  not  know 
whether  fasting  belonged  to  us.  Could  the  children  of 
the  bride-chamber  fast  indeed  ?  Who  were  we  that  we 
should  condescend  to  fasting  and  humiliation  ? 

My  friends !  in  the  few  words  which  I  spoke  to  you 
on  that  day, —  the  last  words  which  I  spoke  to  you 
before  this  morning,  —  I  said  that  Christian  humiliation 
and  Christian  thanksgiving  belonged  together.  We  gave 
God  the  glory,  which  we  dared  not  claim  ourselves. 
"When  I  am  weak,  then  I  am  strong."  That  is  the 
Christian's  ejaculation,  and  on  that  Thursday  of  victory 
and  thanksgiving,  it  was  very  easy  for  us  to  repeat  it ! 

It  ought  to  be  as  easy  to  repeat  it  to-day!  Would 
God  it  were  !  Fasting  and  rejoicing  are  strangely  min 
gled  indeed  to-day.  The  day  of  a  nation's  grief  is  the 
day  of  the  church's  rejoicing.  Fittest  day  of  all,  indeed, 
for  the  day  of  such  grief;  for,  but  for  this  resurrection, 
this  immortality  of  which  to-day  is  token  and  symbol, 
such  grief  were  intolerable  !  But  for  to-day's  promise 
of  victory,  what  should  we  have  worth  living  for?  It  is 
not  simply  that  this  day  assures  us  of  the  immortal  life 
of  the  good,  great  man,  who,  in  an  instant,  puts  off  this 
mortal  body  that  he  may  put  on  his  spiritual  body.  It 
is  not  simply  that  to-day  tells  us  all  is  well  with  him. 
It  is  to  the  country,  which  he  loved  and  served,  that 
to-day,  in  its  promises,  gives  a  like  assurance.  That 
death  has  no  power  over  the  immortal  spirit ;  that  is  the 
lesson  of  to-day.  That  Jesus  Christ  gives  victory  to  his 
flock,  in  giving  them  the  help,  comfort,  and  blessing  of 


274  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  Most  High ;  that  promise  is  sealed  to-day.  That 
the  eternal  laws  of  God  reign  in  men's  affairs,  and  that 
men  may  trust  him  if  they  strive  to  follow  those  laws  ; 
that  is  the  promise  of  his  victory.  That  the  republic  is 
eternal  if  it  makes  itself  a  part  of  his  kingdom.  If  its 
laws  conform  to  his  laws,  no  cerements  can  bind  it, 
and  no  tombs  can  hold  it.  If  it  serve  God,  God  gives 
to  it  immortality. 

I  dare  not  trust  myself  to  speak  a  word  regarding  this 
simple,  godly,  good,  great  man,  who,  in  a  moment,  has 
been  called  from  the  rule  over  a  few  cities  to  be  master 
over  many  things,  in  that  higher  service  where  he  enters 
into  the  joy  of  his  Lord.  To  speak  of  him  I  must  seek 
some  other  hour.  Our  lesson  for  to-day  is,  that  the 
kingdom  of  God  comes,  and  is  eternal.  The  republic,  if 
in  simple  faith  it  strive  to  make  itself  a  part  of  that 
kingdom,  lives  forever.  When  we  built  this  church,  four 
years  ago,  we  painted  here  upon  the  wall  before  you  the 
beginning  of  the  angels'  song,  in  the  words : 

"  Glory  to  God  in  the  highest." 

It  was  in  the  very  outset  of  war  ;  our  own  boys  were 
coming  home  to  us  bleeding  from  the  field,  or  were  lying 
dead  after  the  battle.  And  we  stayed  our  hands  at  those 
words.  We  did  not  add  the  other  words  of  the  promise. 
But  when  last  Sunday  came,  with  its  glad  tidings,  when  it 
seemed  as  if  we  had  endured  to  the  very  end,  we  ven 
tured,  in  the  fulfilment  of  the  glad  prophecy,  to  complete 
our  imperfect  inscription,  and  to  add  here  the  rest  of  the 
blessed  legend : 

"  And  on  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men." 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  275 

The  martyrdom  of  Good  Friday  does  not  make  us  veil 
the  motto,  though  we  read  it  through  our  tears.  Of 
such  martyrs,  it  is  as  true  as  ever,  that  their  blood  is  the 
seed  of  the  church.  Because  they  die,  the  kingdom 
comes  !  We  do  not  forego  our  hope  in  the  promise, 
"  On  earth  peace,  and  good  will  among  men."  The 
President  may  be  killed  to-morrow,  and  his  successor 
may  be  killed  to-morrow,  and  his  successor,  and  his ; 
but  the  republic  lives  !  While  it  seeks  to  do  God's  will, 
to  will  and  to  do  of  his  good  pleasure,  He  works  with  it, 
and  gives  it  immortality.  "  Fear  not  little  flock,  it  is 
your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you  the  kingdom." 


REV.   A.   A.   MINER 


24 


PSALMS  LXXKIX:  18. 


THE  LORD  is  OTJR  DEFENCE,  AND  THE  HOLY  ONE  OF  ISRAEL 
is  OUR  KING. 


MOST  welcome  truth  when  the  current  of  events  seems 
sweeping  us  away.  Scarce  two  short  weeks  ago,  pow 
erful  armies  were  watching  each  other  at  the  gates  of 
the  rebel  capital,  as  a  beast  of  prey  watches  his  victim. 
The  invincible  army  of  Northern  Virginia  had  been  as 
sailed  in  the  terrible  battles  of  the  Wilderness,  had  been 
forced  to  retreat,  day  by  day,  until  they  were  driven 
within  their  intrenchments  at  Richmond,  and,  for  nearly 
a  year,  had  been  held  in  the  mortal  grasp  of  the  Federal 
power.  By  a  constant  tension  of  forces,  and  a  steady 
pressure  of  military  vigor,  our  Lieutenant-General  had 
extended  his  left,  threatening  the  rebel  communications, 
until  Petersburg  and  Richmond  became  untenable,  and 
the  news  of  their  hasty  evacuation,  leaving  behind  five 
hundred  guns  and  vast  military  stores,  filled  the  whole 
North  with  joy  and  exultation. 

Hotly  pursued  by  the  cavalry  of  the  eagle-eyed  Sheri 
dan,  the  retreating  hosts  were  harassed  on  their  flank 
and  rear,  depleted  in  numbers,  despoiled  of  their  weap- 

(279) 


280  SERMONS   ON  THE 

ons  and  supplies,  broken  in  spirit,  and  compelled  to 
surrender,  as  prisoners,  an  instalment  of  a  half  dozen 
major-generals  and  thirteen  thousand  men.  It  was  a 
prophecy  of  what  a  few  days  more  of  unflinching  pur 
pose  would  accomplish  upon  the  foe. 

Scarcely  had  the  echoes  of  this  triumph  died  away, 
when  the  stillness  of  our  Sabbath  evening  was  broken 
by  the  news  of  final  and  triumphant  victory  in  the  capit 
ulation  of  the  rebel  commander,  and  of  all  that  remained 
of  his  traitorous  hordes.  From  within  the  city  of  Rich 
mond,  our  noble  President  sent  despatches  to  Wash 
ington,  assuring  the  country  that  the  rebel  stronghold 
had  surrendered,  that  the  boastful  army  of  treason  had 
become  a  humbled  fugitive,  and,  at  length,  a  subdued 
and  prostrate  captive.  Joy  was  unbounded.  Gratitude 
surged  in  our  hearts,  like  the  heavy  swell  of  the  sea. 
Spontaneous  assemblies  burst  forth  in  praise,  rent  the 
air  with  their  acclamations,  and  pledged  anew,  everlast 
ing  fidelity  to  country  and  to  God. 

But,  while  the  glorious  hope  of  coming  peace  and  of 
universal  freedom  was  gladdening  our  dreams,  we  were 
aroused  by  another  voice.  Our  noble  President  is 
dead,  —  died  suddenly,  —  died  by  the  hand  of  the  foul 
assassin,  —  died  surrounded  by  his  friends,  and  in  a 
public  place.  Terrible  is  the  revulsion  of  feeling  occa 
sioned  by  this  event.  The  public  heart  is  paralyzed. 
We  are  cast  down  from  the  very  summit  of  joy  into  the 
deep  abyss  of  grief.  Oh,  how  changed  the  aspect  of 
the  country  !  Yesterday  we  were  strong  in  the  confi 
dence  we  reposed  in  the  best  of  earthly  rulers.  To-day 
man  seems  as  nothing;  less  than  a  feather  borne  on 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  281 

by  the  breeze.  We  involuntarily  feel  after  the  Unseen. 
We  listen  for  the  echo  of  Jehovah's  footsteps  along  the 
hillsides  of  our  country.  An  audible  voice  from  the 
heavens  seems  to  say,  "  Be  still,  and  know  that  I  am 
God." 

It  were  vain,  in  this  hour  of  excitement,  to  attempt  a 
delineation  of  the  good  man's  life.  Born  in  a  State 
which  could  by  no  means  claim  to  be  in  the  van  of  our 
civilization,  of  parentage  in  the  narrowest  circumstances, 
with  only  the  rudest  and  most  meagre  instrumentalities 
for  culture  at  command,  he  acquired  but  a  veiy  inade 
quate  education  whether  general  or  professional,  and 
entered  upon  the  practice  of  the  law.  In  the  great  school 
of  life  he  soon  rose  to  eminence  in  his  calling ;  and  the 
people  of  Illinois,  in  an  hour  of  sharp  political  conflict, 
called  him  to  bc?ar  up  the  standards  of  liberty.  It  was 
by  his  famous  sonatorial  contest  with  the  late  Hon. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas  for  the  championship  of  the  State, 
that  he  became  most  favorably  known  to  the  country  at 
large.  They  were  accustomed  to  meet  assembled  mul 
titudes,  and,  face  to  face,  on  the  same  day,  canvass  the 
principles  to  which  they  were  respectively  consecrated. 
I  well  recollect  how  deeply  at  the  time  I  was  impressed 
on  reading  those  debates  in  a  western  paper,  by  the 
tone  of  candor  exhibited  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  by  his  great 
tact  in  the  conduct  of  his  argument,  as  well  as  by  his 
shrewdness  of  retort  and  quaintncss  of  reply.  Th.3 
argumentum  ad  honrinem  was  a  favorite  instrument  with 
him,  and  was  rarely  employed  in  vain.  His  fulness  of 
anecdote,  so  effective  in  quickening  the  pulse  and  cheer- 
24* 


282  SERMONS   ON   THE 

ing  the  heart,  served  a  most  valuable  ulterior  end,  in 
compassing  all  the  elements  of  a  forcible  argument,  and 
carrying  deep  conviction  to  his  auditory. 

It  was  from  the  conspicuous  position  he  had  thus 
gained,  that  he  was  called,  in  the  providence  of  God,  to 
the  first  place  in  the  gift  of  the  nation.  You  remember 
the  great  enthusiasm  of  the  people  as  they  skirted  his 
pathway  from  Illinois  to  Washington.  You  remember 
his  hair-breadth  escape  from  the  hand  of  the  assassin  as 
he  passed  through  the  notorious  city  of  Baltimore.  You 
remember  the  surprise  of  the  dignitaries  at  the  capital 
of  the  nation  when  they  awoke  of  a  morning,  and  found 
the  "coming  man"  already  there.  You  remember  the 
meekness  with  which  he  has  borne  himself  through  these 
four  long  years  of  fratricidal  strife.  You  have  observed 
his  condescension  to  all  classes  of  persons,  official  and 
private,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  learned  and  ignor 
ant,  white  and  black. 

Nor  is  our  admiration  of  this  great  man  excited  alone 
by  his  private  walk  and  bearing.  To  the  virtues  of 
temperance,  integrity,  and  honor,  he  has  added  the 
example  of  magnanimous  and  lawful  rule.  True,  great 
needs  have  compelled  great  sacrifices,  and  we  have 
reared  our  hecatombs  of  slain,  and  have  poured  our 
treasures  without  stint  into  the  seething  caldron  of  this 
rebellion.  Great  dangers  have  called  for  unusual  meas 
ures, —  unusual  in  a  country  where  peaco  is  indigenous, 
and  the  citizens  are  strangers  to  the  arts  of  war.  But 
these  have  all  been  lawful  and  just.  Whatever  have 
been  our  judgments  in  the  past,  the  voice  of  calumny, 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  283 

at  home  and  abroad,  is  now  hushed  forever ;  and  craven 
monarchs,  strangers  to  his  Virtues,  will  henceforth  sing 

"He 

Hath  borne  his  faculties  so  meek,  hath  been 
So  clear  in  his  great  office,  that  his  virtues 
"Will  plead  like  angels,  trumpet-tongucd,  against 
The  deep  damnation  of  his  taking  off." 

But  this  crime  is  not  solitary.  The  bayoneting  of 
our  colored  prisoners  of  war,  the  tortures  of  death  by 
slow  starvation,  the  stripping  of  prisoners  and  exposing 
them  to  death  by  cold,  the  converting  of  the  bones  of 
the  cU-ad  into  amulets,  the  hanging  of  inoffensive  citizens 
for  opinion's  sake,  and  a  thousand  other  untold  enormi 
ties,  bear  it  dreadful  company.  The  foul  institution  of 
slavery  is  the  accursed  mother  of  them  all. 

Not  only  is  this  crime  not  solitary,  but  it  is  not  the 
crime  of  a  single  man.  Whether  the  recognized  con 
spirators  are  few  or  many,  the  animus  of  the  assassin's 
blow  flows  from  a  million  hearts.  It  is  found  in  that, 
wide-spread  disloyalty  that  has  brought  upon  the  nation 
all  the  woes  of  a  protracted  civil  war.  The  crime  itself 
is  but  a  single  drop  of  the  spray  from  the  topmost  wave 
of  the  rebellion. 

Hence  it  is  a  crime  of  startling  magnitude.  Loved  as 
was  our  revered  Chief  Magistrate,  an  assault  upon  him 
is  an  assault  upon  the  nation's  heart.  The  constitutional 
head  of  the  government,  the  executive  power  centred  in 
his  hands.  The  vast  responsibility  of  our  military  and 
naval  operations  ;  the  condition  of  our  internal  relations, 
not  undisturbed  by  the  Indian  tribes  upon  our  borders  ; 


284  SERMONS   ON   THE 

our  judicial,  postal,  financial,  and  industrial  affairs;  and 
especially  the  delicate  and  difficult  duties  growing  out 
of  our  foreign  relations, —  all  demanded,  and  received, 
his  most  careful  and  candid  thought.  The  protection 
we  enjoy  in  our  homes,  the  continuous  workings  of  our 
institutions,  and  the  security  we  feel  for  the  future,  are 
all  promoted  by  the  "fidelity  of  our  now-lamented  1 'res 
ident.  To  twenty  millions  of  people  he  has  been  a 
leader  in  the  darkest  hour  of  civil  war  :  to  four  millions 
more  he  has  been  a  deliverer  from  the  infuriated  oppres 
sor  ;  to  yet  eight  millions  more  he  has  been  an  unrecog 
nized  saviour  from  utter  extermination  by  their  own 
suicidal  passions.  When  the  assassin  deals  a  blow  at 
such  a  man,  and  breaks  into  the  citadel  of  life,  he  deals, 
at  the  same  time  a  blow  at  the  life  of  the  nation  itself, 
and,  consequently,  at  the  liberty  and  justice  and  equality 
which  the  nation  represents.  Such  an  act  is  most  dam- 
ningly  infamous  in  the  eyes  of  men,  and  inexpressibly 
blasphemous  in  the  eyes  of  God.  Unhappy  city  that 
gave  the  assassin  birth  !  The  home  of  disorder,  the 
nursery  of  rioters,  the  sheltcrer  of  those  murderers  that 
shed  the  first  Massachusetts  blood  in  this  great  struggle, 
and  now  the  mother  of  the  nation's  parricide  !  Pity, 
oh,  pity  unhappy  Baltimore ! 

Such  a  crime  naturally  begets  sad  apprehensions.  It 
breaks  down  our  confidence  and  stuns  the  public  heart. 
It  distracts  and  confuses  the  public  mind.  It  produces 
a  chaotic  state  of  feeling  incompatible  with  the  duties 
of  the  hour,  and  unfavorable  to  unity  of  effort.  The 
executive  chair  being  vacant,  some  may  fear  that  the 
affections  of  the  nation  will  not  so  warmly  welcome 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  285 

another  occupant,  especially  as  lie  will  be  a  Southern 
man.  The  blindness  of  the  South  may  give  new  suste 
nance  to  the  rebellion,  and  the  leaders  may  be  inspired 
(the  Satanic  influence  seems  sufficiently  potent)  to 
renewed  and  more  vigorous  efforts,  taxing  the  energies 
and  still  further  trying  the  patience  of  the  loyal  men  of 
the  land.  The  news  of  such  a  crime  may  unfavorably 
influence  foreign  governments.  They  little  appreciate 
the  unguarded  freedom  with  which  our  magistrates 
mingle  with  the  people.  They  may  not  at  once  compre 
hend  that  this  enormous  crime  is  as  foreign  to  the  genius 
of  our  government  and  to  the  spirit  of  the  loyal  North, 
as  is  the  accursed  institution  that  inspired  it.  England 
may  forget  her  gunpowder-plot  of  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  ago,  aimed  at  the  destruction  of  the  king  and  the 
whole  parliament,  and  defeated  alone  by  one  of  the  con 
spirators  desiring  to  save  a  Romish  lord.  She  may  forget 
the  unsuccessful  attempts  made  upon  the  life  of  her  noble 
Queen.  France  may  forget  that  her  military  Emperor 
has  been  a  target  for  the  assassin's  pistol.  And,  forget 
ting  those  and  the  like  transactions,  they  may  find  it 
convenient  to  consider  this  great  crime  as  a  peculiar 
symptom  of  Democratic  turbulence,  and  thus  construct 
it  into  a  barrier  against  Democratic  tendencies  in  their 
own  lands.  There  may  be  new  danger  of  foreign  com 
plications  on  another  ground.  Murder  knows  no  rank. 
Murderers  at  St.  Albans,  fleeing  to  Canada,  have  been 
treated  simply  as  raiders  and  belligerents.  Should  the 
assassins  at  Washington  make  a  similar  escape,  and 
find  a  similar  welcome,  what  can  save  us  from  a  new 
and  terrible  conflict?  These  and  like  considerations 


286  SERMONS   ON   THE 

will  have  different  degrees  of  weight  in  different 
minds. 

For  myself,  I  turn  to  the  future  full  of  hope.  Dark 
as  were  the  heavens  yesterday,  already  the  clouds  begin  to 
lift.  The  people  will  rally  from  this  stunning  blow  ;  not 
simply  to  the  level  of  their  former  purpose,  but  to  a  more 
discerning  and  a  more  determined  purpose.  The  pro 
bable  comprehensiveness  of  the  conspiracy  is  baffled. 
However  it  may  have  aimed  at  the  heads  of  several  of 
the  departments,  it  counts  but  a  single  victim  ;  others 
escaping  by  a  seeming  interposition  of  providence, 
impressing  us  with  the  truth  that  "  the  Lord  is  our 
defence  ;  and  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  our  king." 

Perhaps  we  were  in  danger  of  forgetting  this.  The 
rebellion  was  manifestly  waning :  apparently  breaking 
up.  We  had  out-numbered  the  rebels,  out-generalled 
them,  out-flanked  them,  out-witted  them,  and  whipped 
them.  Were  we  not  too  confidently  feeling  that  we 
owed  it  all  to  a  few  men  ?  Was  nut  our  tru-4  too 
much  in  man,  too  little  in  God?  Did  we  sufficiently 
remember  that  the  "  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  our  King  r" 

Perhaps,  also,  we  were  too  little  disposed  to  be 
thorough  in  our  work.  The  well-defined  labor  of  war 
appears  to  be  chiefly  past.  The  difficult,  the  untried, 
the  unprecedented  task  of  re-construction  is  before  us. 
Pcrrui[  s  we  had  not  the  nerve  for  it;  were  not  equal  to 
the  stern  work  of  dealing  with  arch-traitors,  of  meting 
out  punishment  to  leading  rebels,  and  hanging  wholesale 
murderers,  as  we  would  those  of  less  criminality.  Who 
can  say  that  we  have  not  had  a  lesson  on  this  point  ? 
Who  can  deny  that  the  magnanimity  we  were  cherishing 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  287 

has  received  a  severe  shock,  and  that  we  have  been  made 
to  feel  that  we  should  deal  with  great  villains  as  certainly 
as  with  small  offenders,  and  far  more  severely?  Some  of 
our  cotemporaries  may,  indeed,  invoke  endless  perdition 
on  the  heads  of  these  assassins  of  a  nation's  life  ;  and 
they  as  richly  deserve  it  as  mortals  can.  But  between 
endless  ruin  and  absolute  exemption  from  punishment, 
there  is  a  very  broad  margin  within  which  the  line  of 
duty  may  fall ;  and  when  we  remember  the  very  general 
inclination  of  the  people,  the  various  sects  of  religionists 
included,  to  mitigate  the  punishment  provided  by  human 
laws,  thus  showing,  on  a  broad  scale,  the  popular  notion 
of  justice  unwarped  by  religious  theories,  such  inclina 
tion  may  be  regarded,  within  certain  limits,  as  the  voice 
of  God,  who  always  mingles  mercy  with  judgment. 
Let  us,  then,  with  one  voice,  grant  forgiveness  to  the 
ignorant  and  deluded,  but  now  repentant  masses,  and 
demand  expatriation  or  death  for  the  ambitious,  crafty, 
and  fiendish  leaders.  Thus  may  we  teach  all  future 
traitors  the  hazards  of  their  enterprise,  and  their  pro 
bable  doom. 

However  such  matters  may  be  adjusted,  let  us  not 
doubt  that  the  people  of  this  widely  extended  country 
will  prove  even  more  determined  than  ever.  The  insti 
tutions  of  the  land  have  lost  none  of  their  preciousness. 
They  are  not  weakened  by  this  sad  event.  The  assas 
sination  of  our  honored  President  shocks  all  our  hearts ; 
but  it  gives  no  shock  to  the  machinery  of  government. 
All  the  heads  of  departments,  and  every  member  of 
Congress  might  be  cut  off,  and  we  should  spring  to 
our  feet,  extemporize  another  government,  and  demon- 


288  SERMONS   ON   THE 

strate  to  the  world  that  we  live  in  institutions  rather 
than  in  men. 

Why,  indeed,  should  we  be  apprehensive  ?  The  army 
remains  intact.  Our  military  successes,  under  God,  will 
continue.  Our  Lieutenant-General  has  been  thoroughly 
proved,  and  bears  with  him  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
nation.  His  forces  are  now  within  supporting  distance 
of  each  other,  while  the  army  of  treason  is  shorn  of  half 
its  numbers,  besides  being  dispirited  and  broken.  Hav 
ing  accomplished  so  much,  with  the  blessing  of  God, 
how  can  we  fail  to  finish  the  work  ?  If  there  has  ever 
been  an  hour  when  we  have  faltered  in  our  purpose,  that 
hour  has  now  gone  by.  Henceforth  we  are  a  unit,  whose 
energies  are  consecrated  to  the  most  patriotic  service. 

And  shall  we  not  find  a  satisfactory  leader  in  our  new, 
let  me  say,  God-given  President.  It  is  true  he  is  as  yet 
untried.  But  four  years  ago  Abraham  Lincoln  was 
untried  ;  and  the  trial  has  endeared  him  to  all  hearts 
—  has  called  forth  a  nation's  gratitude  in  his  re-election 
to  the  highest  office  in  our  gift,  and  made  his  death  the 
occasion  of  a  deeper  and  more  general  sorrow  than  we 
had  ever  before  known.  Who  can  say  that  his  mantle 
has  not  fallen  on  one  altogether  worthy  of  it  ?  President 
Johnson,  though  untried  in  that  office,  is  not  unknown 
to  the  country.  Through  a  long  public  career,  his  fidel 
ity  has  been  unquestioned.  Born  and  reared  in  the 
midst  of  slavery,  he  knows  its  baneful  influence  and  its 
crushing  power.  Cherishing  in  purest  affection  the 
Union  and  Liberty,  he  has  felt  the  iron  of  secession 
enter  his  soul,.  Acquainted  minutely  and  in  detail  with 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  the  rebel  leaders,  he  may  be 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  289 

better  prepared  than  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  to  estimate 
their  deep  demerit,  and  mete  to  them  the  meed  of  justice 
as  traitors  before  the  law. 

It  is  narrated  of  Mr.  Johnson  that,  in  October  last,  on 
an  occasion  of  addressing  some  thousands  of  colored 
people  in  the  city  of  Nashville,  if  I  remember  correctly, 
he  exhorted  them  to  patience,  and  assured  them  that 
God  would  raise  up  for  them  a  Moses  to  lead  them  out 
of  the  wilderness.  His  auditors  shouted,  "  You  shall 
be  our  Moses!"  Mr.  Johnson  modestly  replied  that 
he  was  not  equal  to  so  important  a  labor.  But  they 
repeated  their  claim,  "  You  shall  be  our  Moses ;  we 
want  no  other  than  you."  "  Well,  then,"  said  Mr. 
Johnson,  "  I  will  be  your  Moses."  Was  this  incident 
prophetic  ? 

I  have  rejoiced  that  our  merchants  and  men  of  busi 
ness,  both  in  Boston  and  New  York,  have  made  haste  to 
give  him  assurances  of  confidence  and  support.  He  will 
be  surrounded,  I  trust,  by  the  same  experienced  advisers 
who  have  stayed  up  the  hands  of  his  predecessor,  and 
can  command  the  same  resources,  and  the  support  of 
the  same  constituency,  as  have  borne  us  through  the 
storm  of  the  last  four  years.  Shall  we  not  all  welcome 
him,  then,  to  our  hearts,  and  pray  the  blessing  of  God 
to  be  with  him  ? 

These  are  grave  experiences  through  which  our  nation 
is  passing.  The  discipline  of  a  life-time  is  condensed 
into  the  lessons  of  an  hour.  The  significance  of  all  his 
tory  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  is  in  the  events  of 
the  last  few  days.  Can  these  events  fail  to  bring  us 
profit  ?  Can  we  fail  to  discern  the  dangers  whence  we 
25 


290  SERMONS   ON   THE 

are  escaping  ;  the  deep  wickedness  whence  they  sprang  ? 
Can  they  fail  to  snatch  us  out  of  the  ruts  of  custom  and 
of  customary  prejudices,  and  to  teach  us,  mid  the  sharp 
chastisements  of  the  Divine  hand,  the  dignity  and  the 
glory  of  right,  and  the  fearfulness  of  injustice  and  wrong  ? 
Can  they  fail  to  purify  the  nation's  heart,  and  enlarge 
the  promise  of  its  coming  glories  ?  Will  they  not  tone 
down  the  rebellion  itself,  and  make  the  leaders  turn 
back  from  their  purpose  as  from  a  fathomless  abyss  ? 

Who  shall  assign  limits  to  the  providential  blessings 
which  late  events,  victorious  and  tragic,  may  be  made  to 
yield  ?  A  transcendentlygood  man  has  been  taken  from 
us ;  but  other  good  men  remain.  Since  "  God  is  our 
defence,"  since  "  the  Holy  One  of  Israel  is  our  King," 
we  may  affirm  his  continuous  watchcare.  The  very 
existence  of  our  nation  seems  providential.  The  great 
eras  in  our  -history  reveal  the  divine  purpose.  But  no 
period  is  equally  instructive  with  that  of  the  last  four 
years.  No  work  is  more  important  or  glorious  than  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves.  No  agent  has  been  more 
conspicuously  providential  than  Abraham  Lincoln  him 
self.  Startling,  then,  as  is  the  manner  of  his  death, 
who  will  exclude  the  event  from  the  overrulings  of  the 
divine  hand  ? 

"  God  moves  in  a  mysterious  way, 
His  wonders  to  perform." 

Providence  does  not  skip  events,  or  omit  opportuni 
ties.  If  the  crucifixion  of  our  Lord,  through  the  malig 
nities  of  the  Jewish  hierarchy,  is  made  a  means  of  the 
salvation  of  the  world,  is  it  too  much  to  hope  that  the 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  291 

death  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  through  agencies  not  less 
malignant,  may  be  overruled  to  the  good  of  our  deeply 
afflicted  country  ?  Called  from  us  at  the  culmination  of 
his  fame,  he  may  be  more  to  us  in  the  coming  years, 
than  he  could  have  been  had  he  still  tarried  in  the  flesh. 
He  died  as  a  martyr  dies. 

"  The  voice  at  midnight  came  ; 

He  started  up  to  hear : 
A  mortal  arrow  pierced  his  frame  ; 

He  fell,  but  felt  no  fear. 
**-**# 

"  His  spirit,  with  a  bound, 

Burst  its  encumbering  clay ; 
His  tent,  at  sunrise,  on  the  ground, 
A  darkened  ruin  lay." 

Bowing  here,  at  the  altar  of  God,  shall  we  not  renew 
our  zeal  in  the  great  cause  of  liberty  and  righteousness  ? 
Standing  upon  those  principles,  which  are  the  foundation 
of  our  national  edifice,  shall  we  not  hold  ourselves  ready 
for  every  needed  sacrifice,  of  time,  of  ease,  of  resources, 
of  sweet  life  itself,  if  we  may  perpetuate  the  blessings 
which  have  been  transmitted  to  us  ?  Especially  should 
you,  young  men,  and  particularly  those  of  you,  who, 
through  liberal  culture,  are  seeking  fields  of  widest  use 
fulness,  enter  in  at  the  open  door  of  opportunity,  which 
the  new  order  of  things  proffers  you.  A  nation  waits 
your  service.  Our  country  calls  for  help.  "  The  Holy 
One  of  Israel  "  sanctions  the  call.  In  patriotic  devotion, 
then,  consecrate  yourselves  anew  to  the  good  of  man  and 
the  glory  of  God. 


REV.   JAMES  REED. 


ADDRESS.* 


THE  event  which  calls  us  together  is  unprecedented 
in  the  history  of  our  country.  It  seems  almost  incredible 
that  in  this  nineteenth  century  of  the  Christian  era,  and 
in  this  land  of  free  self-government,  so  horrible  a  deed 
could  have  been  perpetrated,  as  that  which  has  taken 
from  us,  almost  in  an  instant,  our  beloved  and  honored 
President.  War  is  bad  enough.  It  is  tolerated  by  well- 
disposed  men,  only  as  a  painful  necessity.  The  nature 
and  condition  of  mankind  at  present  are  such,  that,  so 
far  as  we  can  judge,  certain  evils  cannot  be  removed 
without  it ;  and,  as  we  have  lately  had  abundant  oppor 
tunity  to  prove,  individuals  may  be  actively  engaged 
in  it  without  any  revengeful  or  unkindly  feelings. 
Yet,  war,  at  best,  is  bad  enough,  and  every  good  man 
must  rejoice  when  its  ends  have  been  successfully 
accomplished,  and  a  genuine  peace  is  the  result  of  it. 
But  there  are  no  terms  too  scathing  to  designate  the 
bloody  work  of  the  assassin.  It  seems  to  be  the  very 
sum  and  substance  of  human  wickedness.  The  blood 

*  Delivered  Wednesday,  April  19,  1865. 

(295) 


296  SERMONS   ON   THE 

in  our  veins  runs  cold,  as  we  read  the  harrowing  details, 
—  how  the  villain,  armed  to  the  teeth,  pursues  his  inno 
cent  and  unsuspecting  victim ;  watches  his  opportunity 
from  day  to  day,  and  from  hour  to  hour  ;  then  approaches 
him  stealthily  from  behind,  and,  all  unseen,  inflicts  the 
fatal  wound.  When  at  last,  rejoicing  in  his  infamy,  he 
shrieks  out  his  exultant  motto,  it  does,  indeed,  appear 
as  if  hell  itself  had  broken  loose,  and  were  enjoying  a 
momentary  triumph. 

The  unparalleled  atrocity  of  the  crime  is  heightened 
in  the  present  instance  by  its  striking  contrast  with  the 
character  of  its  victim.  However  much  many  may  have 
differed  from  him  on  questions  of  political  expediency, 
all  men  bear  witness  to  his  singular  purity  and  tender 
ness  of  heart.  If  he  had  been  capable  of  intrigue  and 
violence,  —  if  he  had  shown  signs  of  a  vindictive  and 
unforgiving  temper,  —  this  deed,  terribly  dark  at  best, 
would  not  have  shown  in  such  appalling  blackness.  But 
it  is  probable  that  he  who  was  thus  remorselessly  shot 
down  had  not  a  single  unkind  feeling  towards  any  one, 
The  saying  is  in  everybody's  mouth,  that  those,  on  whose 
behalf  this  villany  was  done,  have  lost  thereby  their  best 
friend. 

At  this  very  moment  the  funeral  obsequies  are  pro 
gressing  at  the  capital  of  the  nation;  and,  by  official 
invitation,  all  churches  and  denominations  are  contribut 
ing  their  part  towards  them.  It  is  for  this  purpose  that 
we  have  now  assembled  here. 

There  is  no  reason  why  we  may  not  perform  all  the 
essential  part  of  a  funeral  service.  To  be  sure,  the 
remains  of  the  illustrious  deceased  are  not  with  us. 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  297 

But  that  matters  not.  He  who  considers  the  subject 
will  see,  that  the  religious  exercises  in  connection  Avith 
a  burial  are  never  for  the  sake  of  him  who  has  gone, 
but  solely  for  those  who  remain.  The  departed  spirit 
stands  in  need  of  nothing  which  men  can  do  for  him. 
He  is  entering  upon  a  new  and  active  life  in  the  spiritual 
world.  He  has  left  his  material  body  behind  him.  It 
is  a  matter  of  concern  to  him  no  longer.  Nor  are  the 
realities  of  his  spiritual  existence  in  any  way  affected 
by  the  eulogies  or  prayers  which  may  be  uttered  in  this 
world.  But  if  by  means  of  them  those  who  listen  are 
lifted  up  to  a  higher  and  better  state,  so  that  they  can 
more  clearly 

"  Assert  eternal  Providence, 
And  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  men," 

then  surely  the  services  have  fulfilled  their  legitimate 
purpose.  Hence  it  makes  no  difference  whether  the 
corpse  is  present  or  not.  The  religious  exercises  can 
be  just  as  real  and  useful  without  it  as  with  it. 

It  is  a  doctrine  of  the  New  Church  that  the  Lord  is 
Love  itself,  and  Wisdom  itself;  and  has  created  all 
things  from  Divine  Love  by  Divine  Wisdom.  Because 
He  is  Love  itself,  therefore  has  He  created  human 
beings  to  the  end  that  they  may  become  angels  of 
heaven,  and  be  conjoined  with  him  in  eternal  blessed 
ness.  The  infinite  love  yearned  for  that  on  which 
it  could  be  bestowed,  and  by  which  it  could  be 
reciprocated  ;  and  man  was  created.  But,  inasmuch  as 
freedom  is  the  indispensable  condition  of  all  genuine 
reciprocal  love  and  all  true  happiness,  therefore  the 


298  SERMONS    ON   THE 

Lord  made  man  a  free  agent;  and  His  constant  effort 
with  regard  to  him  is  to  lead  him  to  shun  evil  and  do 
good  in  freedom.  Yet  he  may  abuse  his  freedom,  and 
act  in  opposition  to  the  Lord's  wishes ;  and  so  obtain 
eternal  misery  instead  of  blessedness. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  this  great  principle,  that  the  Di 
vine  Providence  has  for  its  object  a  heaven  of  angels  from 
the  human  race,  we  can  understand,  in  a  general  way, 
all  the  Lord's  dealings  with  men.  By  means  of  the 
various  events  which  befall  them  from  sources  beyond 
their  control,  He  designs  to  bring  them  into  the  highest 
degree  of  happiness  which  they  are  capable  of.  "The 
Divine  Providence  looks  to  eternal  things  ;  and  no 
otherwise  to  things  temporal,  than  as  far  as  they  agree 
with  things  eternal."  The  Lord's  view  of  events  is  not 
limited  and  contracted  like  ours.  Not  only  does  He  look 
infinitely  beyond  the  present  moment,  but,  in  all  that 
He  provides  or  permits,  He  has  regard  to  the  effect 
which  is  to  be  produced  on  every  human  being.  We 
may  truly  say,  therefore,  that  no  event  can  come  to  pass 
except  in  the  precise  way  which  is  best  calculated  to 
benefit  all  who  are  in  any  degree  affected  by  it,  either 
directly  or  indirectly,  now  or  hereafter.  The  only  con 
dition  imposed  upon  us  is,  that  we  should  freely  make 
use  of  the  providential  opportunities  which,  in  His 
infinite  wisdom,  our  heavenly  Father  offers.  Unless 
we  do  so,  we  throw  away  the  benefit  which  forms  the 
chief  part  of  His  merciful  designs. 

Accordingly,  even  this  barbarous  and  inhuman  work 
of  the  assassin  has  been  divinely  permitted  for  the  good 
of  our  beloved  country  and  of  the  whole  human  race,  to 


DEATH    OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  299 

the  end  of  time.  By  means  of  it,  each  and  all  of  us 
may  be  strengthened,  if  we  will,  for  the  heavenly  jour 
ney.  As  for  him  who  has  been  struck  down,  we  cannot 
doubt  that  he,  in  his  new  abode,  is  inspired  with  the 
same  trust  in  Providence  Avhich  was  so  conspicuous  a 
trait  of  his  character  while  he  was  in  the  flesh.  Nor 
can  we  doubt  that  he  is  able  to  see  more  plainly,  by  far, 
than  he  could  here,  the  reasons  why  Providence  leads 
mankind  through  such  strange  and  devious  paths. 

The  Lord,  I  say,  has  permitted  this  shocking  deed. 
But  let  us  remember  that  He  has  not  caused  it.  He  is 
the  cause  of  no  evil  whatsoever.  But  all  evil  has  its 
origin  in  man  himself,  and  is  occasioned  by  the  abuse 
or  perversion  of  his  divinely  given  freedom.  No  belief 
could  be  more  false,  than  that  the  Lord  put  it  into  the 
heart  of  the  murderer  to  do  this  thing.  On  the  con 
trary,  His  infinite  love  was  extended  over  him,  as  it  is 
over  all  of  us,  to  lead  him  to  put  away  the  fiendish  lust 
and  thought  which  impelled  him  to  the  fiendish  act. 
But  he  would  not  yield  to  any  divine  or  heavenly  influ 
ence,  working  within  and  upon  him.  He  listened  to 
the  voice  of  hell  in  preference  to  that  of  heaven.  And 
the  Lord,  knowing  what  was  best  for  all  concerned, 
interposed  with  none  of  those  events,  which  we  call 
accidents,  but  permitted  him  to  carry  out  his  bloody 
purpose.  The  successful  villany  is  no  more  wicked  in 
itself  than  if  it  had  been  unsuccessful.  As  far  as  the 
spiritual  condition  of  the  criminal  is  affected,  it  is  no 
worse  than  if  his  plot  had  failed.  The  murderer  of 
the  President  is  no  more  worthy  of  condemnation  than 
the  would-be  murderer  of  the  Secretary  of  State.  But 


300  SERMONS   ON   THE 

as  for  the  results,  reaching  far  beyond  the  deed  itself  and 
the  doer  of  it,  what  a  wondrous  difference  !  Who  can 
measure  them  ?  Who  can  conceive  of  them  ?  Who 
can  adequately  estimate  them  even  during  the  past  week, 
if  we  take  into  account  nothing  more  than  what  we  have 
seen  in  our  own  immediate  community  ?  And  who  can 
doubt  that  the  Lord  of  love  and  mercy  is  directing,  and 
will  direct,  them  to  His  own  infinite  purposes  ? 

That  our  heavenly  Father  provides  good,  and  good 
only,  for  all  of  His  children,  must  be  clear  to  those  who 
regard  Him  as  infinitely  good  and  wise.  That  at  the 
same  time  He  permits  the  existence  of  certain  evils,  is 
evident  from  the  simple  fact  that  they  exist ;  for  how 
could  this  be  without  His  permission  ? 

It  is  a  somewhat  striking  fact  that  the  day  on  which 
this  terrible  deed  was  perpetrated,  is  celebrated  by  the 
greater  part  of  the  Christian  world  as  the  anniversary  of 
the  Lord's  crucifixion.  The  Sabbath  following  is,  in  like 
manner,  supposed  to  be  the  anniversary  of  His  resurrec- 
tiun.  It  matters  little  whether  these  suppositions  are 
correct  or  not.  The  great  truth  remains  the  same,  that 
the  Lord  was  crucified,  and  that  he  rose  again.  So  too, 
there  is  no  event,  however  dark  and  sorrowful,  which  has 
not,  if  we  but  use  it  rightly,  its  day  of  resurrection,  in 
which  it  re-appears,  not  in  the  same  form,  indeed,  but 
transfigured ;  its  aspect  changed  from  deformity  into 
beauty,  from  grief  into  gladness.  So  are  the  Lord's 
doings  made  acceptable,  as  well  as  marvellous,  in  our 
eyes. 

We  may  not,  and  doubtless  do  not,  see  clearly  why 
the  horrid  events  of  the  past  week  should  have  taken 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  301 

place.  But  surely  we  cannot  question  the  goodness  and 
wisdom  of  the  Lord.  We  cannot  doubt  the  tender 
mercy  of  that  Divine  Providence  which  has  so  won- 
drously  preserved  us  hitherto,  and  has  apparently  brought 
us  to  the  end  of  this  unnatural  and  distracting  war. 
Our  Heavenly  Father  is  not  changeable  as  we  are.  If 
he  has  been  kind  in  raising  up  for  us  a  great  and  good 
ruler,  He  has  surely  been  no  less  kind  in  suffering  him 
to  be  removed  from  us. 

Certain  it  is  that  our  President  would  never  have  been 
taken  away,  if  he  had  not  finished  his  appointed  work. 
As  for  that  work,  the  memory  of  it  will  live  forever. 
A  greater  work  is  seldom  performed  by  a  single  man. 
Generations  yet  unborn  will  rise  up,  and  call  him 
blessed. 

But,  as  for  what  remains,  the  true  spiritual  welfare  of 
the  country  and  of  mankind,  requires  that  it  should  be 
done  by  others.  It  may  be  that  we  need  still  further 
discipline  and  trial  before  the  full  measure  of  national 
prosperity  can  be  allowed  to  us.  Or  it  may  be  that  he 
who  was  the  best  leader  in  time  of  war  is  not  best  fitted 
for  the  new  exigencies  which  are  arising.  We  cannot 
tell  now,  but  we  shall  know  hereafter.  Our  present 
duty  is  to  trust.  He  who  has  guarded  us  hitherto  will 
not  fail  us  in  the  time  to  come.  In  the  hollow  of  His 
hand  let  us  rest,  doubting  not  that  if  we  strive  to  do 
our  part,  He  will  do  His ;  and  though  we  now  are  sorrow 
ful,  our  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy. 

The  primary  object  in  such  services  as  these  ou^ht 
unquestionably  to  be,  the  effort  to  see  and  acknowledge 
as  far  as  possible  the  guiding  hand  of  our  heavenly 
26 


302  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Father.  But  in  the  case  of  a  public  man,  whose  obse 
quies  are  performed  by  an  entire  nation,  there  is  also  the 
further  object  of  paying  respect  to  him  and  his  office. 
In  the  present  instance,  the  office  has  been  foully  dese 
crated  by  the  impious  hand  of  violence.  For  this  reason, 
if  for  no  other,  the  whole  people  would  rise  up  as  one 
man  in  the  fury  of  their  indignation.  But  now  we  have 
lost  a  magistrate,  who,  to  the  faithful  discharge  of  his 
official  duties,  has  added  the  most  endearing  of  personal 
characteristics.  His  uniform  gentleness  of  heart,  his 
almost  womanly  tenderness,  his  unaifected  frankness  of 
manner,  and  straight-forward  simplicity  of  speech,  have 
brought  him  wonderfully  near  to  the  hearts  of  his  coun 
trymen.  We  all  feel  to-day  as  if  a  father  had  been 
taken  away  from  us. 

I  shall  not  attempt  any  minute  analysis  of  his  char 
acter.  You  all  have  a  clear  perception  of  the  man  ;  for 
it  was  his  nature  to  make  no  concealment  of  himself. 
Indeed,  he  was  so  transparent,  that  it  seems  almost  as  if 
we  had  had  a  personal  acquaintance  with  him,  even 
though  we  had  never  seen  him.  His  acts  and  words  show 
what  he  was,  more  plainly  than  any  labored  eulogy  can 
do ;  and  I  have  thought  that  I  could  not  show  forth  in  any 
better  way  his  purity  of  purpose,  his  disinterested  patri 
otism,  his  genuine  reverence  for  the  Lord  and  the  Word, 
than  by  reading  to  you  the  inaugural  address,  which 
stands,  and  will  forever  stand,  as  his  last  words  to  the 
American  people : — 

"  FELLOW-COUNTRYMEN  :  — 

"  At  this  second  appearing  to  take  the  oath  of  the 
Presidential  office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an  extended 


DEATH   OF  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  303 

address  than  there  was  at  the  first.  Then  a  statement, 
somewhat  in  detail,  of  a  course  to  be  pursued,  seemed 
very  fitting  and  proper.  Now,  at  the  expiration  of  four 
years,  during  which  public  declarations  have  constantly 
been  called  forth,  on  every  point  and  phase  of  the  great 
contest,  which  still  absorbs  the  attention  and  engrosses 
the  energies  of  the  nation,  little  that  is  new  could  be 
presented. 

"The  progress  of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly 
depends,  is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to  myself; 
and  it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satisfactory  and  encour 
aging  to  all.  With  high  hope  for  the  future,  no 
prediction  in  regard  to  it  is  ventured.  On  the  occasion 
corresponding  to  this,  four  years  ago,  all  thoughts  were 
anxiously  directed  to  an  impending  civil  war.  All 
dreaded  it,  all  sought  to  avoid  it.  While  the  inaugural 
address  was  being  delivered  from  this  place,  devoted 
altogether  to  saving  the  Union  without  war,  insurgent 
agents  were  in  the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without 
war ;  seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union  and  divide  the 
effects  by  negotiation. 

"  Both  parties  deprecated  war ;  but  one  of  them 
would  make  war  rather  than  let  the  nation  survive  ; 
and  the  other  would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it 
perish,  —  and  the  war  came. 

"  One-eighth  of  the  whole  population  were  colored 
slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over  the  Union,  but 
located  in  the  southern  part  of  it.  These  slaves  consti 
tuted  a  peculiar  and  powerful  interest.  All  knew  that 
this  interest  was,  somehow,  the  cause  of  the  war. 
To  strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  interest  was 


304  SERMONS   ON   THE 

the  object,  for  which  the  insurgents  would  rend  the 
Union  by  war,  while  government  claimed  no  right  to  do 
more  than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of  it. 
Neither  party  expected  the  magnitude  or  the  duration 
which  it  has  already  attained.  Neither  anticipated  that 
the  cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease,  even  before  the 
conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each  looked  for  an  easier 
triumph  and  a  result  less  fundamental  and  astounding. 
Both  read  the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same  God, 
and  each  invokes  His  aid  against  the  other.  It  may  seem 
strange  that  any  man  should  dare  to  ask  a  just  God's 
assistance  in  wringing  his  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other 
men's  faces.  But  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not  judged. 
The  prayer  of  both  should  not  be  answered.  That  of 
neither  has  been  answered  fully.  The  Almighty  has  his 
own  purposes.  "  Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offen 
ces  ;  for  it  must  needs  be  that  offences  come,  but  woe  to 
that  man  by  whom  the  offence  cometh."  If  we  shall 
suppose  that  American  Slavery  is  one  of  these  offences, 
which,  in  the  providence  of  God,  must  needs  come,  but 
which,  having  continued  through  His  appointed  time, 
Pie  now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  he  gives  to  both  North 
and  South  this  terrible  war  as  the  woe  due  to  those 
by  whom  the  offence  came,  shall  we  discern  therein  any 
departure  from  those  divine  attributes  which  the  believ 
ers  in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  Him  ? 

"  Fondly  do  we  hope,  fervently  do  we  pray,  that  this 
mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily  pass  away.  Yet, 
if  God  wills  that  it  continue  until  all  the  wealth  piled 
by  the  bondsman's  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of 
unrequited  toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  305 

of  blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by  another 
drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said  three  thousand  years 
ago,  so  still  it  must  be  said,  that  the  judgments  of  the 
Lord  are  true  and  righteous  altogether. 

"  With  malice  towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right, 
let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in,  to  bind  up 
the  nation's  wound,  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have 
borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow  and  his  orphans, 
to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  a 
lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 


26* 


REV.    GEO.   PUTNAM. 


ADDRESS. 


What  was  mortal  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  President  of 
the  United  States,  is  at  this  hour  being  borne  to  the 
grave.  How  are  the  mighty  fallen  !  He  who  but  yes 
terday  was  the  top  and  crown  of  this  vast  political 
fabric,  the  peer  of  the  world's  foremost  men  and  might 
iest  potentates,  stricken  by  the  assassin's  hand,  has 
fallen  from  that  great  height.  His  word  of  power  is 
hushed ;  his  great  heart,  embracing  a  nation  in  its  love, 
has  ceased  to  beat.  His  body  is  given  back  to  the  dust 
as  it  was,  and  his  spirit  returneth  unto  God  who  gave 
it ;  and  the  man  who  has  filled  so  large  a  space  in  the 
eye  of  the  world  has  ceased  to  be  an  earthly  presence. 

The  civil  and  military  heads  of  the  nation  are  burying 
their  chief,  at  the  capital,  with  such  poor  earthly  pomp 
as  befits  his  station ;  and  we,  who  are  so  far  away,  yet 
as  near  as  they  in  love  and  grief,  do  join  in  the  obse 
quies  ;  we,  and  twenty  millions  more,  bowing  d&wn  our 
heads,  as  one  man,  in  deepest  sorrow  and  awe  ;  the 
whole  land  in  mourning ;  the  drapery  of  woe  festooning 
the  breadth  of  the  continent ;  bell  answering  to  bell, 

(309) 


310  SERMONS   ON   THE 

and  gun  to  gun,  from  tower  and  town  and  hill  top,  from 
sea  to  sea  ;  a  more  than  sabbath  stillness  fallen  over  all 
the  cities  and  the  plains  and  the  mountain-sides  of  our 
vast  empire. 

Verily,  this  funeral  hour,  so  observed,  is  an  hour 
filled  with  a  solemnity,  a  sublimity,  and  a  pathos,  un 
equalled  in  all  the  hours  that  we  have  lived,  or  that 
our  fathers  have  told  us  of;  and  such  an  one  as  might 
scarcely  come  to  us  again  though  we  should  live  for 
centuries. 

It  is  an  hour  to  be  much  observed  unto  the  Lord  ;  and 
it  was  meet  that  we  should  come  before  his  presence,  and 
bow  down,  and  seek  his  face  in  submission,  in  supplica 
tion,  and  in  trust,  if  so  be  the  hour  might  not  pass  away 
without  leaving  its  blessing. 

Friends,  we  will  not  give  these  flying  moments  to  the 
indulgence  of  our  sorrow,  nor  to  vain  attempts  to  express 
that  sorrow.  Deep  grief  does  not  readily  betake  itself 
to  words  :  it  rather  craves  the  privilege  of  silence  ;  and, 
if  forced  to  speak,  it  does  but  stammer  in  half-thoughts 
and  broken  utterance.  It  is  the  better  way  for  us*,  the 
more  manly  part,  and  the  more  patriotic  and  more  re 
ligious,  and  a  worthier  tribute  to  the  illustrious  doad, 
to  hush  down  the  sobs  of  grief,  and  rise  up  into  the  realm 
of  more  tranquil  meditation  ;  to  remember  the  virtues 
and  the  services  of  the  departed  ;  to  study  the  lessons 
that  Providence  sets  for  us  in  his  death  ;  and  gird  our 
selves  urj  devoutly,  bravely,  for  the  work  that  is  before  us. 

I  will  not  cumber  this  day's  brief  solemnities  with  any 
biographical  detail  or  careful  analysis.  All  is  said  in 
two  words  :  Abraham  Lincoln  was  a  GOOD  and  a  GREAT 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  311 

man.  He  must  have  had  faults,  and  he  must  have 
committed  mistakes,  for  he  was  a  man.  But  his  worst 
enemy,  —  if,  indeed,  he  had  any  enemy,  except  his 
murderer,  and  those  whose  system  of  war,  conceived  in 
treason,  blazing  in  rebellion,  and  graced  with  thousands 
of  slow  murders  in  the  prison-house,  has  at  last  inspired 
the  heart  and  nerved  the  arm  of  the  assassin,  —  except 
ing  these,  his  enemy,  if  he  had  one,  would  not  wish  to 
have  his  faults  recounted,  here,  as  it  were,  beside  his 
opening  grave.  Therefore,  it  is  no  matter  that  the 
speaking  of  these  funeral  words  has  fallen  to  the  lot  of 
one  who  has  loved  him  with  such  a  filial,  grateful,  and 
reverent  love,  as  never  to  have  been  able  to  see  any 
faults  in  him,  and  who  confided  in  him  with  such 
perfect  confidence  as  never  to  discover  his  mistakes. 

A  GOOD  man.  I  catch  no  voices  of  dissent  on  that 
point,  and  never  did,  even  in  those  dark  days  of  national 
adversity,  when  the  heart  of  the  people  seemed  to  be 
falling  away  from  him.  A  conscientious  and  upright 
man.  Just  and  true  in  every  known  act  and  word  of 
his  life.  God-fearing,  God-serving  ;  just  and  faithful ; 
anxious  unto  prayer  to  see  his  duty  and  to  do  it.  And 
a  warm-hearted  man,  disinterested,  devoted ;  tender 
hearted  as  a  woman,  gentle  as  a  child ;  loving  his 
country  with  his  whole  heart,  and  yet  room  enough  in 
that  heart  for  kindness  to  the  humblest  fellow-creature, 
and  compassion  for  every  sufferer ;  but  with  no  room 
for  one  malignant  or  vindictive  feeling  towards  his  own 
or  even  his  country's  foes.  If  he  could  have  had  a 
moment's  consciousness,  after  the  accursed  blow  was 
struck,  who  will  doubt  that  the  sublime  words  of  the 


312  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Son  of  God  would  have  been  on  his  lips  and  in  his 
heart,  "Father,  forgive  them,  for  they  know  no£  what 
they  do." 

This  conjunction,  of  so  childish  a  simplicity,  so  gentle 
and  unselfish  and  tender  a  spirit,  with  imperial  powers 
and  functions,  is  so  new  a  thing  in  the  history  of 
nations,  such  a  strange  spectacle  to  the  world,  that  the 
world  has  not  known  what  to  make  of  it,  and  has  yet 
to  grow  up  to  an  appreciation  of  the  unequalled  beauty 
and  majesty  of  it. 

A  good  man,  and  as  great  as  he  was  good.  I  know 
not  that  I  could  tell,  if  the  occasion  required  it  to  be 
told,  just  wherein  his  greatness  lay,  or  where  was  the 
hiding  of  his  power. 

The  eye  of  the  nation  was  first  turned  to  him  in  that 
great  debate  which  he  conducted  in  Illinois,  some  six 
years  ago,  against  an  adversary  who  was  regarded, 
perhaps,  as  the  ablest  and  most  skilful  debater  then 
known  in  the  public  councils  of  the  country,  —  Judge 
Douglas.  In  that  debate  the  great  issues  of  the  time 
were  entered  on  fully,  and  to  their  utmost  depths.  Mr. 
Lincoln  bore  his  part  in  it  with  such  noble  candor  and 
self-possession,  such  breadth  of  views,  such  clearness 
and  power  of  statement,  and  such  masterly  logic,  that 
he  became  henceforth  a  marked  and  representative  man, 
and  could  never  again  become  anything  less. 

Since  that  time,  whoso  has  been  left  to  speak  of 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  slighting  terms,  as  an  ordinary  man 
accidentally  raised  to  power,  shows  himself  forgetful,  or 
but  poorly  read  in  the  forensic  history  of  the  few  years 
preceding  the  war. 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  313 

Many  persons  make  great  account  of  the  manners  and 
personal  bearing  of  eminent  men,  and  not  without  some 
reason,  for  manners  are  an  index  of  the  mind. 

In  private  circles,  in  hours  of  social  converse  and  re 
laxation,  there  was  undoubtedly  in  the  President  a 
freedom  and  a  homeliness  of  manner,  that  showed  other 
breeding  than  that  of  courts  and  fashionable  assemblies. 
For  he  was  a  genial,  humble,  kindly  man,  all  undazed 
by  power  and  place,  utterly  devoid  of  egotism,  and 
almost  of  personal  consciousness,  and  unaffectedly  re 
garding  every  man  he  met  as  his  full  equal  before  God. 
Yet,  where  or  when,  in  any  public  place  or  function  has 
he  been  found  wanting  in  the  stateliness  and  gravity 
that  befitted  his  rank  ? 

Our  own  consummate  Everett,  himself  the  embodi 
ment  of  grace  and  dignity,  has  declared,  that  on  the 
occasion  of  the  funeral  solemnities  of  Gettysburg,  where 
were  met  together  on  the  platform,  and  at  the  table,  our 
own  most  eminent  men,  and  the  ambassadors  of  foreign 
courts,  there  was  no  man  there  who  bore  himself,  or  was 
capable  of  bearing  himself,  with  more  propriety  and 
true  dignity,  than  the  President.  And  Goldwin  Smith, 
the  candid  Englishman,  said  that  not  a  sovereign  in 
Europe,  however  trained  from  the  cradle  for  state  pomps, 
and  however  prompted  by  statesmen  and  courtiers,  could 
have  uttered  himself  more  regally  than  did  the  plain, 
republican  magistrate,  on  that  solemn  occasion. 

Passing  from  mere  manners,  to  official  words,  I  think 

there  is  no  potentate  nor  minister  of  state  living,  or  who 

has  lived  in  this  century,  who  has  spoken  so  many  words 

so  terse,  so  strong,  so  genuine,  that  history  will  make 

27 


314  SERMONS   ON   THE 

imperishable,  as  has  Abraham  Lincoln.  I  quote  with 
pleasure  the  saying,  not  of  an  American  partisan,  but  of  a 
cold,  critical,  unsympathizing  Briton,  respecting  the  last 
inaugural  address  of  the  President,  that  it  is  "  a  state 
paper  which  for  political  weight,  moral  dignity,  and 
unaffected  solemnity,  has  had  no  equal  in  our  time." 

Of  those  intellectual  faculties,  which  have  constituted 
Mr.  Lincoln's  greatness  in  the  administration  of  the 
Government,  I  can  speak  now  only  in  the  most  general 
terms.  It  was  not  genius,  inspiration,  brilliancy  :  no 
man  ever  used  those  words  in  connection  with  his  name. 
There  was  in  him,  the  shrewdest  common  sense,  a  deep 
sagacity  intuitive  and  almost  infallible,  though  not 
rapid  nor  flashing.  He  had  a  strong  grasp  of  principles, 
»reat  patience  of  investigation,  and  a  sound,  sure  judg 
ment.  These  are  not  the  shining  powers  of  the  human 
mind ;  and  yet,  wherever  they  are  largely  possessed,  and 
happily  combined  and  balanced,  they  go  to  constitute 
greatness,  and  produce  the  effect  of  greatness  in  any 
sphere  of  human  action.  They  border  close  upon  the 
moral  qualities,  and  it  has  never  yet  been  metaphysically 
shown  to  what  extent  high  moral  qualities  combine  with 
the  intellectual  ones  to  strengthen,  enlighten,  and  direct 
them,  so  as  to  produce  greatness  of  thought,  action,  and 
result.  We  cannot  define  how  far  a  living,  sleepless 
conscience,  a  sacred,  singlehearted  regard  for  truth  and 
right,  a  fixed  devotion  to  a  noble  end  and  purpose,  a 
fervent  love  of  country  and  of  humanity,  an  unswerving 
fidelity  to  trusts,  and  a  devout  fear  of  God;  —  we 
cannot  tell  in  what  proportions  these  qualities  have  con 
tributed  to  set  the  stamp  of  greatness  on  the  name  and 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  315 

life  of  the  President.  Neither  can  we  so  far  penetrate 
the  mystery  of  spiritual  laws  as  to  tell  how  far,  or  in 
what  way,  the  spirit  of  the  mighty  God,  who  holds  the 
hearts  of  all  men  in  his  hand,  and  by  whom  princes 
rule,  comes  to  those  who  piously  seek  it,  and  humbly 
welcome  and  trust  in  it,  and  enters  in  by  its  secret  course, 
to  inspire,  assist,  and  lead  the  Lord's  anointed  in  the 
discharge  of  their  great  and  solemn  function.  We  only 
know  that  the  men  who  have  achieved  the  greatest  things 
in  any  age,  have  been  those  who  have  been  ready  to  say 
in  such  dialect  of  faith  as'  they  had  attained  to,  Not 
unto  us,  O,  Lord,  not  unto  us,  but  unto  thy  name  be  the 
glory. 

But  what  need  of  these  inquiries?  Look  at  what 
this  man  has  done.  He  is  great  in  the  greatness  of  that. 
A  stupendous  work  was  given  him  to  do,  and  he  has 
accomplished  it.  Called,  in  God's  providence,  to  a  lofty 
destiny,  he  has  gloriously  fulfilled  it.  Placed  on  a  pinnacle 
high  as  any  earthly  height,  in  the  world's  full  view,  he 
has  won  the  world's  respect  and  honor.  He  came  to  the 
capital,  four  years  ago,  and  found  it  reeking  with  treason 
in  all  its  departments,  threatened  on  every  side  by 
gathering  hordes  of  rebels,  and  the  very  roads  leading 
to  it  lined  with  banded  assassins ;  he  leaves  it  to  his 
successor,  purified,  fortified,  impregnable  as  any  seat  of 
empire  on  earth ;  and  not  an  enemy  near  it,  unless  it  be 
another  murderer  lurking  in  its  dark  places. 

Inheriting  from  his  predecessors  the  seeds  and  neces 
sities  of  a  civil  war  of  such  vast  dimensions  and  such 
intense  malignity,  he  has  conducted  that  war  and  fought 
it  out  through  weary  years,  through  seasons  of  darkness 


316  SERMONS   ON   THE 

and  discouragement ;  threatened  with  reaction  among 
the  loyal,  threatened  with  bankruptcy  and  every  form  of 
national  exhaustion,  with  foreign  intervention,  —  he  has 
fought  it  out  to  a  complete  and  final  victory.  The  rulers 
of  Europe  told  him  he  was  trying  to  do  the  impossible  : 
well,  then,  he  has  done  the  impossible.  When  he  took 
his  seat  of  power,  he  found  the  nation  drifting  towards 
disintegration  and  anarchy,  division  and  subdivision,  the 
abyss  out  of  which  only  could  proceed  ruin  and  eternal 
strife ;  and  he  leaves  it  compacted  in  unity,  and  power,  and 
more  imperial  than  ever  before.  The  ship  of  state  was 
strained  in  every  joint,  and  crashing  in  the  breakers, 
and  the  great  seas  going  over  her,  and  the  skies  were 
black  with  tempest,  and  the  crew  was  in  mutiny,  and 
the  wisest  knew  not  what  to  do,  and  the  bravest  blanched 
with  fear.  Then  this  unknown  and  untried  man  comes 
forth  at  the  call  of  the  all-wise  Providence,  which  guides 
and  overrules  the  choice  of  men,  and,  with  his  eyes  raised 
to  heaven,  lays  his  firm  hand  on  the  helm.  And  behold, 
now,  the  goodly  ship  rides  at  her  anchors,  and  rests 
beautifully  on  her  shadow;  and  he,  the  helmsman, stands 
confessed  before  the  world  as  the  pilot  that  weathered 
the  storm.  Firm  and  unwavering  throughout,  whoever 
might  falter  or  play  false,  he  has  crushed  the  gigantic 
rebellion.  Its  power  of  resistance  is  broken,  and  on  the 
verge  of  annihilation,  and  the  day-star  of  peace  is  rising 
in  the  eastern  heavens  ;  and  behold,  now,  it  is  accompa 
nied,  as  it  never  has  been  before,  with  two  glorious 
attendants,  —  so  new,  so  beautiful, — namely,  absolute 
and  impregnable  NATIONALITY,  and  universal  FKEEDOM. 
If  to  have  done  this  is  not  greatness,  what  is  great- 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  317 

ness  among  men?  If  he  who  has  done  this  is  not  great, 
who  is  great  among  the  living  or  dead  of  all  ages  ? 
Shall  we  apply  the  title  great  to  the  man  who  composes 
a  treatise  or  a  poem,  who  invents  a  machine,  who  argues 
a  cause,  who  wins  a  battle,  or  takes  a  city  ?  Truly  we 
may  sometimes.  But  so  applying  the  title,  do  we  with 
hold  it  from  the  man  who  saves  a  nation  ?  who,  by  the 
guidance  of  his  mind  and  the  strength  of  his  arm,  raises 
it  up  from  the  verge  of  destruction,  leads  it  through  its 
night  of  gloom,  its  wilderness  wanderings,  its  seas  of 
blood,  and  places  it  at  last  erect  on  the  supreme  heights  of 
power  and  peace  and  glory  ?  Truly,  I  think  when  the 
history  of  this  era  is  written,  and  our  posterity  shall  read 
it,  and  burn,  as  they  will,  with  the  admiration  and  the 
inspiration  it  kindles,  they  will  marvel  to  learn,  that,  in 
the  time  of  these  great  events,  there  was  in  any  mind  a 
blindness  and  narrowness  that  could  so  much  as  raise  a 
question  of  the  surpassing  greatness  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln. 

From  his  work  so  accomplished,  this  man,  so  great 
and  good,  has  gone  to  his  rest,  and  his  great  presence 
has  faded  from  our  sight.  He,  the  saviour  of  his  coun 
try  ;  he,  who  has  so  watched  and  toiled  for  us  ;  our 
head,  our  guardian,  our  best  earthly  stay  and  staff,  is 
fallen  powerless  and  dumb  !  Oh,  the  bitterness  of  the 
grief !  Oh,  the  immeasurable  loss  !  Would  God  he  had 
lived,  our  yearning  hearts  cry  out,  —  lived,  if  it  were 
only  to  come  forth  among  his  people,  that  we  might 
throng  his  presence,  and  tell  him  of  our  love  and  rever 
ence,  and  weave  for  him  our  garlands  of  honor  and 
thankfulness,  and  call  down  heaven's  blessings  on  his 
27* 


318  SERMONS    ON   THE 

head,  and  see  if  we  could  not  do  something  to  make  him 
as  happy  as  he  was  good  and  great.  But  our  prayer  is 
denied,  and  we  must  submit ;  and  we  will,  meekly,  devout 
ly,  God  helping  us. 

And,  indeed,  apart  from  the  yearnings  of  love  and 
sorrow,  rising  to  the  height  of  calmer  thoughts,  can  we 
not  almost  see  already  that  God's  time  is  the  right  time, 
and  that  this  death  was  not  untimely  ?  He  lived  to  see 
the  work  assigned  to  him  substantially  accomplished, 
and  to  witness  his  country's  triumph.  The  measure  of 
his  fame  was  full.  There  awaited  him,  had  he  lived, 
duties  less  arduous,  indeed,  but  harder  for  his  tender 
heart  to  perform.  It  needs  not  a  better  or  a 
greater  man,  but  a  sterner  nature  and  a  more  iron 
hand  than  his,  to  do  what  yet  remains  to  be  done.  God 
in  his  mercy  has  spared  him  the  severe  necessities  that 
will  soon  press  upon  his  office.  He  has  gone  amid  the 
satisfactions  of  success  and  the  rejoicings  of  victory,  and 
the  loud  plaudits  and  affectionate  appreciation  of  his 
countrymen ;  gone  in  a  moment,  and  without  a  pang, 
from  an  earthly  joy  and  glory  to  an  heavenly ;  ascended 
into  the  bosom  of  his  God,  to  whom  he  had  lived  so  near 
in  firm  obedience  and  pious  trust  on  earth.  Peace  be 
with  him,  the  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  under 
standing. 

Though  dead,  he  yet  speaketh.  Though  gone,  he  is 
still  here.  His  memory  and  influence  abide  in  his  coun 
try's  heart  forever. 

The  visitation,  so  solemn  and  sad,  while  it  dissolves 
us  in  tears,  must  also  arouse  us  to  our  responsibilities, 
and  brace  us  to  our  duties. 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  319 

First,  not  his  gentle  and  forgiving  heart,  but  the 
sacred  instinct  of  eternal  justice,  implanted  in  us  by 
our  Maker,  demands,  in  his  name  and  in  God's  name, 
that  the  whole  earth  be  searched,  in  every  nook  and 
corner,  if  need  be,  for  the  fiendish  murderers,  that  they 
may  make  to  an  afflicted  nation  and  an  outraged  hu 
manity  the  poor  atonement  of  their  accursed  lives. 
Hell  is  agape  for  them  ;  or,  though  God  have  mercy 
on  them  (which  we  will  pray  for),  man  cannot. 

And  not  they  only,  but  the  spirit  that  has  bred  so 
many  enormities,  that  has  so  long  and  in  so  many  ways 
struck  at  the  nation's  life,  and  has  only  shown  its  full  devel 
opment  in  striking  down  the  nation's  head,  must  perish. 
The  new  President — God  bless,  preserve,  and  guide  him — 
is  right.  That  spirit,  together  wdth  the  foul  slave-system 
that  engenders,  embodies,  and  perpetuates  it,  —  that 
spirit,  which  is  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and 
forever  will  be  while  it  survives,  must  be  crushed  into 
the  earth.  Justice  is  as  divine  a  principle  in  God  and 
in  man  as  mercy.  An  unfit  clemency  to  guilty  indi 
viduals  is  cruelty  to  innocent  millions  and  to  unborn 
generations. 

Not  from  the  kindly  lips  and  tender  heart  of  Lincoln 
do  we  derive  these  stern  counsels  of  duty ;  but  from  his 
gaping  wound  and  flowing  blood  do  we  take  them,  and 
must  heed  them. 

The  awful  duties  of  retribution  rest,  where  they  best 
may,  with  the  law  and  the  magistrate  ;  and  there  we  leave 
them  in  strong  and  faithful  hands,  I  do  believe. 

And  yet  there  are  duties  for  the  humblest  citizens. 
We  must  raise  higher,  and  hold  firmly  up,  the  standard 


320  SERMONS  ON  THE 

of  loyalty.  The  country  that  has  been  saved  to  us,  given 
back,  as  it  were,  from  the  jaws  of  destruction,  must 
now  be  devotedly  loved,  and  jealously  watched  for,  and 
guarded  by  all  its  people.  No  more  careless  paltering 
with  treason  and  half-loyalty,  North  or  South.  Our 
grand  and  happy  nationality,  restored  and  rehabilitated, 
is  henceforth  our  most  sacred  trust  from  God ;  and  the 
arm  that  is  lifted  against  it,  be  it  palsied  rather  ;  and  the 
false  tongue  that  would  profane  its  majesty  by  a  word 
of  treason,  or  of  sympathy  with  treason,  be  it  struck 
dumb  ere  it  speak.  Whoso  does  not  love  his  country 
is  unworthy  to  live  in  it.  Let  the  people  this  day, 
bending  in  tears  over  the  bier  of  their  beloved  chief, 
let  them  register  in  their  hearts  the  solemn  decree, 
that  they  will  hold  their  country  so  dear  a  possession 
and  so  holy  a  trust,  that  they  will  not  permit  a  drop 
of  the  deadly  virus  of  disloyalty  to  circulate  in  its  veins  ; 
and  that  traitors,  and  the  apologists  and  supporters  of 
traitors,  must  not  share  its  blessings,  nor  enjoy  its 
protection,  nor  so  much  as  breathe  its  air.  Tens  of 
thousands  of  our  dearest  and  our  noblest  have  died  to 
save  it,  and  our  great  chief  has  died,  because  he  had 
saved  it;  and  shall  not  we,  who  are  spared  to  enjoy  it,  — 
shall  we  not  swear  by  that  sacred  blood,  his  and  theirs, 
that  henceforth  we  will  love  it  with  all  our  hearts,  and 
live  for  it,  and  watch  for  it,  and  devote  ourselves  and 
all  that  we  are  and  have  to  it,  hold  its  enemies  as  our 
enemies,  and  have  no  friends  that  are  not  its  friends, 
and  love  none  that  do  not  love  it  ? 

Perhaps  at  this  moment,  while  we  speak,  they  are 
lifting  up  the  remains  of  our  noble  patriot,  deliverer, 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  321 

martyr,  to  bear  them  from  his  palace-home  to  the  dark 
and  narrow  house.  In  such  a  moment,  of  so  great 
solemnity  and  tenderness,  let  the  sacred  fires  of  patriot 
ism  blaze  up  bright  and  aloft  in  millions  of  hearts  ;  let 
hand  clasp  with  hand  in  a  solemn  league  and  covenant 
of  loyalty,  and  all  true  souls  renew  their  vows  of  devo 
tion  to  the  country  which  he  loved,  and  lived  for  and 
died  for ;  and  make  that  country,  in  its  unity,  its 
grandeur,  and  its  peace,  a  fitting  monument  to  his 
memory,  worthy  to  record  his  earthly  fame,  and  accept 
able  to  the  contemplation  of  his  glorified  spirit. 


REV.  GEO.   L.    CHANEY. 


JOHN  XIV:  19. 


BECAUSE  I  LIVE,  YE  SHALL  LIVE  ALSO. 

GREAT  lives  are  never  finished;  least  finished  when 
the  grave  relieves  them  of  their  mortal  part.  Their  biog 
rapher  only  drops  his  pen  at  the  open  sepulchre,  because 
eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  nor  the  heart  of  man 
conceived  the  glories  that  succeed ;  or  because  his  search 
is  baffled  as  he  seeks  to  trace  the  growing  influence  of 
these  ransomed  lives  upon  the  thoughts,  the  habits,  the 
principles  and  actions  of  an  attentive  posterity.  Modern 
scholars  have  sought  to  discover  a  philosophy  of  history 
which  should  introduce  into  the  reading  of  the  history  of 
man  the  precision  of  natural  science,  and  enable  them 
to  predict  the  future  as  they  review  the  past.  Race, 
climate,  physical  environment,  all  external  conditions  of 
the  human  lot,  and  each  new  discovery  of  human  wit, 
have  been  ascertained  to  affect  the  history  of  man ;  but 
no  sufficient  philosophy  of  human  history  has  been 
reached,  where  the  most  potent  factor  in  the  problem 
refuses  to  be  classified.  The  great  man  is  the  controlling 
power,  and  he  cannot  be  anticipated.  Guizot  calls  the 
appearance  of  a  special  great  man,  at  a  special  time, 

28  (325) 


326  SERMONS   ON   THE 

"the  secret  of  Providence."  —  "The  great  person,  the 
great  man,"  says  another,   "  is  the  miracle  of  history." 

The  only  prophetic  history  which  deserves  the  name, 
that  of  the  Hebrew  prophets,  turns  with  inspired  truth 
to  the  great  person.  "  His  name  shall  be  called  '  won 
derful,  counsellor,' "  and  "  the  government  shall  be  upon 
his  shoulder." 

The  only  good  and  sufficient  biography,  also,  is  to  be 
found  in  the  same  sacred  volume.  For  in  the  successive 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  the  life  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
given  with  a  fulness  that  recognizes  the  truth  we  main 
tain.  The  biographers  of  Christ  do  not  leave  him  in  the 
grave,  as  if  death  were  the  end  of  life.  To  them  was 
revealed,  by  the  will  of  God,  something  of  the  glory  that 
succeeds  death ;  and  in  the  re-appearance,  further  teach 
ing,  and  final  ascent  into  the  heavens,  of  their  Master, 
they  describe  his  victory  over  death  and  the  grave,  and 
immediate  entrance  into  the  life  eternal  in  the  heavens. 

Nor  does  the  record  end  here ;  but,  running  over  into 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  it  shows  how  the  life  of  Christ 
on  earth  was  taken  up  and  carried  forward  by  His  imme 
diate  followers.  And,  preserving  the  missionary  epistles 
of  apostles,  it  further  shows  how  foreign  nations  felt  its 
power  and  followed  in  its  footsteps. 

Taking  the  New  Testament  as  a  unit,  it  is  the  only 
good  and  sufficient  biography  ;  because  it  not  only  pre 
serves  the  separate  details  of  the  thirty  years  of  the  life 
of  Christ  on  earth,  but  follows  him  beyond  the  grave, 
adding  that  most  glorious  leaf  from  the  Lamb's  Book  of 
Life,  and  then  traces  in  the  lives  of  his  near  posterity 
the  quickening  influence  of  his  Master's  spirit  and  life. 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  327 

"Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  If  Jesus  had 
designed  to  state  the  universal  condition  of  life,  he 
could  not  have  chosen  fitter  words  to  express  his  mean 
ing.  Till  we  reach  the  spring  of  life, —  the  self-existent 
God, —  every  living  thing  implies  a  living  author.  And 
when  \ve  reach  that  life  of  the  spirit,  that  higher  life, 
which  has  no  better  definition  than  "energy  of  love, 
divine  or  human,"  they  have  it  not,  who  will  not  confess 
that  it  was  inspired  in  their  hearts  by  some  kindred  life 
in  another.  Often,  most  often  indeed,  the  awakened 
soul  can  gratefully  remember  the  name,  the  word,  the 
act  of  its  awakener,  and  can  recall  the  occasion  of  its 
waking. 

Always  some  vitalizing  word  or  deed  of  a  living  man 
or  woman  has  kindled  them  into  life.  "  Thou  art  Peter," 
says  Christ,  "and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church." 
Signifying  that  men  and  women  animated  by  the  Christian 
spirit,  speaking  and  acting  out  of  their  original  concep 
tion  and  interpretation  of  the  gospel,  were  to  constitute 
the  lively  stones  of  his  church  edifice. 

Only  life  is  life-giving;  and  the  more  it  gives,  the 
more  it  has  to  give.  Therefore  I  said,  "Great  lives  are 
never  finished."  Therefore  it  is,  that  the  life  of  Christ 
can  never  be  written  in  briefer  form  than  in  the  life  of 
Christendom.  For  apostolic  zeal  and  constancy,  word  of 
preacher,  prayer  of  saint,  fidelity  of  martyr,  patience  in 
suffering,  comfort  in  sorrow,  strength  in  temptation, 
confidence  in  death,  all  the  grand  and  beautiful  virtues 
that  have  graced  Christian  biography,  acknowledge  in 
Jesus,  the  Christ  of  God,  their  inspiration  and  support. 
Because  he  lived,  they  have  lived  also ;  and  the  followers 


328  SERMONS   ON   THE 

of  Christ  will  never  lose  the  holy  emulation  excited  by 
that  one  perfect  life,  till  they  all  "come  to  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  If  the  life  of 
Christ  could  be  studied  in  its  effects,  even  if  we  could 
search  no  farther  than  to  the  direct  influence  of  the 
New  Testament  record,  doubtless  it  might  be  said  with 
literal  truthfulness,  of  these  things  which  Jesus  did,  if 
they  should  be  written  every  one,  even  the  world  itself 
could  not  contain  the  books  that  should  be  written  :  with 
such  fulness  has  history  verified  that  word  of  Christ, — 
"  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  We  find  in  these 
words  a  profound  statement  of  the  law  of  spiritual 
vitalization ;  and,  although  their  brightest  illustration 
is  given  in  the  life  and  influence  of  Jesus  Christ,  the 
special  application  of  their  first  statement  by  him  can 
not  conceal  their  large  and  universal  significance.  Life 
is  life-giving !  with  only  this,  the  most  natural  and  self- 
evident  interpretation  of  the  text,  we  may  venture  to 
take  up  the  burden  of  this  day. 

How  shall  I  speak  of  him,  the  mention  of  whose  name 
a  few  days  ago,  made  our  hearts  glad  and  hopeful  ?  This 
is  no  time  for  eulogy.  All  speech  is  so  feeble  in  the 
presence  of  the  national  grief  and  indignation,  that  I 
would  choose  to  be  a  silent  worshipper  with  you,  while 
each  should  listen  to  the  solemn  preaching  of  the  event, 
as  his  own  heart  might  inly  interpret  it.  But  since  the 
occasion,  and  your  general  expectation,  not  unfairly  de 
mand  speech,  I  will  try  so  to  speak  as  not  to  disturb 
your  hearts'  conference  with  its  own  bitter  grief. 
Prayers,  spiritual  song,  and  hallowed  word  of  Holy 
Writ,  must  take,  for  the  hour,  the  ministry  of  consola- 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  329 

tion.  In  the  words  that  I  shall  say,  I  am  as  one  just 
bereaved,  who  can  only  repeat  the  virtues  of  the  dead, 
and  mourn. 

He  was  a  faithful  husband  and  a  kind  father.  All  his 
virtues  were  homebred,  and  a  domestic  sweetness  fla 
vored  his  public  acts.  He  was  too  much  a  father  to 
conduct  the  pitiless  discipline  of  an  army.  If  a  tired 
boy  fell  asleep  on  guard,  he  had  not  the  heart  to  have 
him  shot.  Perhaps  he  was  thinking  of  his  own  son, 
his  Isaac,  whom  God  has  since  rescued  from  the  sacri 
fice  of  war,  and  restored  to  him,  and  in  whose  bright 
description  of  the  recent  glorious  victory,  Robert's  father 
and  our  country's  father  took  such  honest  pride,  only 
the  day  before  he  died.  Or,  perhaps,  he  thought  of  his 
youngest,  the  little  Benjamin  of  his  home,  the  boy  ever 
at  his  side.  I  have  read  nothing  more  sad,  among  the 
scenes  of  that  saddest  chamber  death  ever  entered,  than 
this.  "  Little  Thaddeus  will  not  look  upon  his  father." 
Oh,  with  what  poison  did  treason's  malice  inflame  the 
dull  temper  of  the  fatal  lead,  that  it  could  unman  such 
a  father,  and  estrange  such  a  child ! 

He  was  kind  and  forgiving,  forgiving  to  a  fault  (some 
have  thought  and  said).  But,  my  friends,  if  forgiveness 
be  a  fault,  methinks  saints,  not  sinners,  should  make 
the  discovery.  Our  good  President  never  knew,  never 
could  know,  the  wickedness  and  spite  of  the  enemies  of 
his  country.  We  never  knew  them  till  they  placed  him 
beyond  the  fatal  knowledge  which  this  day  we  know. 
I  say  the  "  fatal  knowledge;"  for  unless  heaven  forefend, 
the  act  which  has  opened  the  eyes  of  this  people,  till 
they  stand  out  with  horror,  may  wake  such  rage,  hot 
28* 


330  SERMONS   ON   THE 

indignation,  and  vindictive  fury,  in  the  breast  of  an  ex 
citable  army  and  populace,  that  crime  shall  fall  on  crime, 
and  the  triumphant  nation  shall  smear  its  garments  with 
the  bloody  fingers  of  revenge.  Abraham  Lincoln  never 
knew,  while  he  lived  with  us,  the  hatred  that  was  in  the 
rebellious  heart.  I  thank  God  that  his  tender  heart  has 
not  been  wrung  and  torn  as  ours  has  been,  by  the  human 
contemplation  of  enmity's  last  curse.  I  thank  God  that 
if  such  depravity  can  be  known  by  ransomed  souls,  the 
knowledge  has  come  to  him  where  love  has  no  limitation, 
and  where  forgiveness  is  no  fault. 

In  life,  as  every  act  shows,  he  was  as  little  conscious 
of  the  spirit  that  fired  the  Southern  heart,  as  at  the  last 
he  was  of  the  murderer's  presence.  When  he  left  his 
Western  home,  four  years  ago,  he  sowed  peaceful 
promises,  of  which  his  sincere  soul  was  full,  all  along 
the  route  Eastward ;  and  his  first  word  in  the  Capitol 
was  an  anguished  appeal  in  the  form  of  a  most  tender 
remonstrance:  "We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies",  he  said.  He  was  scarcely  better 
schooled  in  enmity  when  he  died.  He  could  not  learn  it. 
He  who  so  easily  forgave  injuries  could  not  comprehend 
a  hatred  which  had  no  injuries  to  forgive ;  a  hatred 
which,  with  Jewish  malignity,  hated  him  because  he  was 
a  Christian,  and  clamored  for  its  bond. 

He  had  a  working  religion,  which  believed  that  God 
helped  those  who  helped  themselves  to  right  ends.  He 
said,  and  said  devoutly,  "God  is  over  all";  but  he 
added,  "  We  must  diligently  apply  the  means."  He 
had  not  profited  so  little  by  his  pioneer  life,  as  to  wait 
for  the  lightning  to  plough  his  land  or  the  whirlwind  to 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  331 

fell  his  trees ;  but  he  took  the  instruments  that  were  at 
hand,  the  plough  and  the  axe,  and  having  well  used  these, 
he  trusted  to  God  for  the  increase.  We  must  do  our 
best,  if  we  desire  the  best  gift  of  God.  In  the  practical 
application  of  this  religious  principle,  he  was  never 
remiss  and  never  discouraged. 

He  saw  clearly  that  there  were  moral  results  from 
every  act,  but  over  these  he  disclaimed  having  any 
power.  Men  could  not  restrain,  or  much  increase  them, 
he  said. 

But  he  was  sagacious  enough  to  see  that  these  moral 
results  would,  in  process  of  time,  work  a  change  of 
policy  in  the  administration  of  a  people's  government, 
and  he  doubtless  kept  equal  pace,  at  least,  with  the 
advancing  moral  sentiment  of  the  people. 

The  acknowledgment  of  a  controlling  Divine  Power, 
was  a  frequent  and  sincere  expression  with  him.  He 
never  forgot  it,  from  the  day  when  he  parted  from  his 
Springfield  home,  and  said  to  his  friends  there,  "  Pray 
for  me,"  to  the  closing  days  of  his  life,  when  he  ascribed 
all  glory  unto  the  wonderful  providence  which  had 
guided  the  events  of  his  administration.  God  was  his 
Counsellor,  but  man  was  his  instrument.  He  could 
counsel  with  God ;  he  must  work  with  man :  and  he 
showed  a  practical  good  sense  in  the  use  of  his  instru 
ments. 

Some  have  blamed  him  because  he  seemed  to  be  so 
distrustful  of  committing  his  government  to  the  policy 
which  most  engaged  his  moral  approbation ;  the  policy  of 
emancipation :  but  events  have  showed  that  he  only 
bided  his  time.  He  thought,  if  God  could  wait  a 


332  SEEMONS   ON   THE 

hundred  years  for  the  destruction  of  American  slavery, 
man  might  wait  a  hundred  days. 

The  real  cause  of  this  delay,  however,  was  his  respect 
for  the  Constitution.  He  was  scrupulously  true  to  his 
oath  to  support  that.  He  spoke  of  himself,  in  homely 
phrase,  as  of  one  who  had  engaged  to  do  a  job,  and  who 
felt  morally  obliged  to  do  it  well,  according  to  the  terms 
of  the  agreement,  viz.,  the  Constitution;  and  history 
will  declare  that  there  never  was  a  President  who  took 
more  conscientious  pains  to  be  faithful  to  constitutional 
government. 

All  his  public  documents,  and  all  his  published  letters 
and  speeches,  bear  witness  to  his  fidelity  to  the  Consti 
tution  as  he  understood  it ;  and  surely  any  construction 
less  liberal  than  he  put  upon  it,  and  any  milder  exercise 
of  its  war  powers,  would  have  exposed  that  instrument 
to  the  ridicule  of  the  world,  and  flung  us  into  the  ancient 
chaos  of  disunited  States.  He  suffered  for  long  the  moral 
disapprobation  of  men  whom  he  profoundly  revered, 
because  of  his  delay  in  assuming  the  power  conferred  by 
war,  to  abolish  human  slavery;  and  when  the  proclama 
tion  of  emancipation  came,  his  impressive  benediction 
commends  it  not  simply  as  an  act  of  justice,  but  of  wise 
policy  and  constitutional  validity  : 

"  Upon  this,  sincerely  believed  to  be  an  act  of  justice, 
warranted  by  the  Constitution  upon  military  necessity,  I 
invoke  the  considerate  judgment  of  mankind,  and  the 
gracious  favor  of  Almighty  God." 

He  was  honest  from  the  first,  and  lived  so,  four  years, 
in  Washington.  His  fairness  in  dealing  showed  itself  in 
repeated  offers  of  compensated  emancipation  to  the  Slave 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  333 

States  ;  in  temperate  delays  and  profitable  warnings  ;  in 
a  hundred  days  of  grace,  before  the  consummate  word 
was  spoken  that  made  us  free. 

A  winning  frankness  made  it  impossible  to  double- 
deal  with  him.  He  made  short  work  with  all  super 
refinements,  curious  subtleties,  and  specious  insincerities. 
His  kindly  nature  made  him  value  the  approbation  of 
his  people.  To-day,  when  we  cannot  suffer  a  word  to 
his  discredit,  we  almost  resent  his  own  words,  when  we 
read,  in  a  letter  he  once  wrote  to  Mr  Conkling,  "But 
many  people  find  fault  with  me."  We  feel  ashamed 
that  we  ever  doubted  him,  when  we  read  further  and 
hear  him  saying :  "I  certainly  wish  that  all  men  should 
be  free,  while  you,  I  suppose,  do  not."  And  then  he 
proceeds  to  state,  with  that  judicial  clearness  so  charac 
teristic  of  his  mind,  the  emancipation  policy. 

The  same  regard  for  fair-dealing  which  led  him  to 
offer,  again  and  again,  compensated  emancipation  to  the 
slave-master,  made  him  determined  to  protect  the  men 
whom  he  had  freed.  "  To  abandon  them  now,"  he  says, 
"  would  not  only  be  to  relinquish  a  lever  of  power,  but 
would  also  be  a  cruel  and  astounding  breach  of  faith." 

He  was  a  constant  and  self-sacrificing  friend,  and  never 
allowed  personal  ambition  to  pervert  justice.  Early  in 
the  war,  he  showed  a  generous  readiness  to  take  upon 
himself  the  responsibility  of  unpopular  acts.  He  laid 
aside  the  traditional  dignities  of  his  office,  and  mounted 
the  rostrum,  that  he  might  defend  the  character  and  dis 
position  of  influential  servants  of  the  government.  It  is 
the  singular  truth  that  in  the  death  of  him  we  mourn, 
his  enemies  are  even  more  bereaved  than  his  friends. 
His  cool  assassin  was  a  lunatic  suicide. 


334  SERMONS   ON   THE 

But  why  prolong  the  mention  of  virtues  that  do  but 
•prolong  our  grief?  These  memories  only  deepen  our 
sense  of  a  loss  already,  at  times,  beyond  our  trustful 
submission. 

Let  me  leave  with  you  these  words  of  sober  prophecy 
and  faithful  advice.  I  need  not  tell  you  the  name  of 
their  author  : 

"  Peace  does  not  appear  so  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope 
it  will  come  soon,  and  come  to  stay,  and  so  come  as  to 
be  worth  keeping  in  all  future  time.  It  will  then  have 
been  proved,  that,  among  freemen,  there  can  be  no  suc 
cessful  appeal  from  the  ballot  to  the  bullet,  and  that  they 
who  take  such  appeal  are  sure  to  lose  their  case,  and 
pay  the  cost.  Still,  let  us  not  be  over-sanguine  of  a 
speedy,  final  triumph.  Let  us  be  quite  sober  ;  let  us 
diligently  apply  the  means,  never  doubting  that  a  just 
God,  in  his  own  good  time,  will  give  us  the  rightful 
result." 


REV.   A.   L.    STONE. 


LAMENTATIONS   V:   15,   16. 


THE  JOY  OF  OUR  HEART  is  CEASED  ;    OUR  DANCE  is  TURNED 
INTO  MOURNING. 
THE  CROWN  is  FALLEN  FROM  OUR  HEAD. 


WHEN,  three  days  ago,  the  morning  of  the  day 
appointed  for  fasting,  humiliation,  and  prayer,  rose 
upon  a  people  jubilant  with  the  joy  of  victory,  many 
felt  that  both  the  designation  of  the  day  and  the  ac 
customed  manner  of  its  observance  should  be  changed ; 
that,  instead  of  fasting,  there  should  be  feasting,  in 
stead  of  humiliation  and  supplication,  thanksgiving  and 
praise. 

But  some  of  us  remembered,  and  we  called  it  to  mind, 
that  the  chief  intent  of  the  day,  as  our  fathers  kept  it, 
was  prospective.  It  did  not  look  backward  with  peni 
tential  review,  so  much  as  it  looked  forward  with  fore 
casting  deprecation  to  possible  evils.  The  day  was 
appointed  in  the  spring  season,  when  the  great  venture 
of  the  harvest  was  at  hazard,  and  all  the  uncertainties 
of  elemental  blight  and  blessing  hung  poised  in  the 
scales  of  Providence.  If  there  were  confession,  for 
saking  of  sin,  —  as  was  always  tru?,  —  it  was  as  a 
29  (33?) 


338  SERMONS    ON    THE 

preparation  of  heart  for  availing  prayer,  that  "  the 
early  and  the  latter  rain  "  might  fall,  each  in  its  time ; 
the  hand  of  the  reaper  bind  and  gather  its  sheaves 
with  joy,  and  the  autumn  granaries  be  full.  Then 
should  follow  the  commemorative  festival,  looking  to 
the  past,  and  celebrating  the  throned  goodness  that  had 
provided  abundance  for  the  wants  of  man  and  beast. 
It  was  this  ideal  of  the  day  recently  observed,  that  held 
so  many  Christian  pulpits  and  Christian  people  so  closely 
to  its  first  design. 

We  ought  to  have  felt,  more  deeply  than  we  did,  that 
the  future  might  bring  up,  into  that  bright  morning  sky, 
dark  clouds  big  with  storm  and  tempest,  and  have 
stretched  our  hands  up  with  a  mightier  reach  of  suppli 
cation  toward  the  sovereign  hand  holding  the  balances 
weighted  with  coming  events. 

The  thought  was  on  our  hearts  and  on  our  lips  that 
there  might  be  perils  brooding  for  our  country,  shadows 
gathering  over  the  path  of  its  future.  But  who  could 
have  looked  forward  to  so  dark  a  shadow  as  this  which 
has  fallen  !  who  could  have  painted  this  sable  cloud  on 
that  smiling  sky  ! 

There  was  talk,  with  some,  of  reversing  our  associa 
tions  with  this  month  of  the  Spring,  and  our  religious 
observances  wedded  to  its  annual  return,  and  making  it 
henceforth  our  month  of  most  tuneful  rejoicing,  —  the 
coronal  of  the  year.  But  not  now  !  We  cannot  change 
thee,  oh,  weeping  April !  oh,  month  of  tears  !  Pour 
down  all  thy  warm  showers  :  from  our  eyes  the  rain  falls 
faster  yet !  Evermore,  from  henceforth,  at  thy  return, 
thou  and  the  sorrowing  nation  shall  weep  together. 


DEATH    OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  339 

How  sudden  the  changes  of  the  April  sky,  —  sun 
shine  !  shower !  And  beneath,  on  our  faces  and  in  our 
hearts,  how  faithfully  copied  !  What  glad  days  they 
were  that  followed  those  two  memorable  sabbaths, 
freighted  with  such  a  gospel  of  victory  and  peace ! 
What  a  deep  and  tender  joy  rested  upon  all  our  homes 
and  temples !  Richmond  was  taken.  The  sword  of 
Lee  was  broken.  Loyal  and  honest  hands  were  on  their 
way  to  run  up  the  old  flag  above  the  battered  and  ruined 
walls  of  Sumter.  Every  eye  was  sunny  with  gratulant 
greetings  to  every  other.  How  sudden  the  darkness  ! 
Night  comes  in  nature  with  twilight  herald  running 
before.  Our  night  came  without  precursor,  —  "  in  a 
moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,"  as  though  noon 
and  midnight  had  met. 

There  were  beds  the  night  before  last,  I  suppose,  rest 
less  with  dreams  ;  but  with  all  the  sleepers  there  was  no 
dream  so  black  as  that  awful  fact  that  went  pulsing  and 
tolling  through  the  night,  and  lies  now  like  an  incubus 
which  memory  cannot  chase  away,  upon  the  shuddering 
national  heart. 

We  have  lost  great  and  good  men  before.  They  have 
been  taken  from  the  high  places  of  honor  and  of  trust 
with  their  robes  of  office  on.  They  have  been  taken 
from  the  scenes  of  retirement  whither  a  nation's  homage 
followed  them,  bearing  in  its  offerings  before  their  feet. 
Washington  died  leaving  that  one  peerless  title  behind 
him,  —  **  The  Father  of  his  Country."  Harrison  and 
Taylor  died,  sinking  wearily  down  from  that  chair  toward 
whose  great  vacancy  our  dim  eyes  look  to-day.  Our 
two  great  Massachusetts  statesmen  and  orators  passed 


340  SERMONS  ON   THE 

away  leaving  us  to  feel  that  the  world  was  less  rich  and 
grand  since  they  were  gone.  But  these  were  all  led 
gently  from  our  presence,  by  a  messenger  hand,  whose 
power  and  whose  right  none  of  us  could  question.  The 
Divine  Will,  by  itself,  and  alone,  made  up  and  executed 
the  summons. 

But  our  dear  President  was  snatched  from  us  by  the 
hand  of  violence.  This  was  the  bitter  element  in  the 
cup.  He  might  have  lived.  He  was  not  sick.  He  was 
not  old.  "  His  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force 
abated."  All  wantonly  and  wickedly  his  precious  blood 
was  shed ;  unchilled  by  age,  untainted  with  disease. 
He  had  reached  no  natural  bound  of  life.  It  was  not  a 
treasure  expended,  but  stolen  by  forceful  robbery.  It  is 
not  simply  bereavement,  —  but  bereavement  by  such 
awful  fraud,  that  tries  us  most  sorely. 

And  yet  none  the  less  —  but  how  it  strains  upon  our 
submission  —  none  the  less  is  it  the  solemn,  sovereign 
providence  of  the  reigning  God.  Truly  "  clouds  and 
darkness  are  round  about  him."  In  this  visit  to  us  "  He 
maketh  darkness  his  pavilion,"  and  our  hand  cannot 
draw  back  the  heavy  folds.  He  is  trying,  by  a  hard  test, 
our  faith,  our  confidence,  our  resignation.  Oh  that  our 
struggling  lips  could  say  clearly,  if  not  calmly,  "It  is 
the  Lord,  let  Him  do  what  seemeth  Him  good."  We 
must  say  that,  before  we  can  have  any  comfort,  before 
our  prayers  can  find  acceptance,  and  before  the  divine 
hand  will  take  from  our  suppliant  hand  the  loose-lying 
reins  of  state.  God  help  us  to  say  out  of  the  depths  of 
this  great  grief,  without  a  doubt,  without  any  reserve, 
with  our  yearning  affections  still  clinging  around  that 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  341 

pale,  dead  form,   lying   in  the   chamber   of  the  White 
House,  "  Thy  will  be  done  ! " 

How  dear  he  was  to  the  people !  That  thought 
comes  first  after  the  loss.  He  was  of  them.  He  was 
not  lifted  above  them,  either  in  pride  of  place,  or 
pride  of  intellect,  or  the  kingly  style  of  his  greatness. 
He  walked  on  our  levels  still.  All  his  simple,  plain, 
homely  talk,  kept  him  near  us.  He  spoke  our  vernacu 
lar,  the  language  of  the  fireside  and  common  life, 
and  not  the  dialect  of  courts.  He  did  not  leave  us,  and 
wrap  himself  in  official  stateliness,  when  he  went  up 
the  hill  of  the  capitol.  His  kindly  face  and  voice,  his 
cheerful,  humorous,  fireside  English,  his  form  and  atti 
tudes,  and  all  his  personal  habits,  made  him  seem  of 
kin  to  each  of  us.  A  familiar,  friendly,  neighborly  air 
hung  about  him  everywhere.  He  put  on  nothing.  He 
was  always  his  own,  true,  hearty,  republican  self.  The 
people  loved  him.  That  thin,  swarthy  face,  that  tall, 
angular  form,  drew  after  them,  more  than  all  beauty  and 
grandeur  in  the  land,  the  blessings  of  their  hearts.  And 
he  loved  them.  He  was  thoughtful  for  the  comfort  of 
the  aged,  the  poor,  the  hearts  which  war  had  made  deso 
late.  The  humblest  could  go  to  him,  finding  an  open 
door  and  an  open  heart.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  have 
never  held  any  other  President  so  tenderly  in  our  affec 
tions.  And  one  reason  is,  we  have  never  found  any 
other  so  accessible  to  our  thoughts  and  sympathies,  and 
never  one  so  much  of  our  own  mould  and  substance. 

How  we  confided  in  him !  He  was  a  man  to  build 
trust  upon.  His  honesty  was  a  pillared  rock.  The 
pleasant  air,  with  which,  against  whatever  importunity, 


342  SERMONS   OX   THE 

he  kept  his  purposes,  covered  and  mantled  the  sternest 
conscientiousness.  The  careless  step  with  which  he 
walked  toward  his  objects  in  the  country's  welfare, 
neither  wealth  nor  favor  could  make  to  swerve.  All  was 
simple,  easy,  and  natural,  but  firm-fibred  as  oak,  true 
as  steel.  The  most  faithful  discharge  of  his  great  duty,  — 
the  highest  good  of  the  nation,  —  to  this  fixed,  unrevolving 
star  his  soul  was  steady  as  the  needle  to  the  pole.  He  had 
a  sharp  insight  that  cut  through  all  the  rind  of  sophis 
tries  to  the  core  of  difficult  questions,  leaving  such  light 
on  the  stroke  that  other  minds  could  follow.  He  was 
a  man  of  parables,  and  translated  the  dark  and  vexed 
problems  of  political  science  into  pleasant  similitudes, 
transparent  to  the  dullest  eye.  Where  a  diplomatic 
answer  would  have  been  dignified  obscurity,  he  told  a 
story  through  which  flashed  the  honest  light  of  clear 
intelligence.  He  was  in  this  way  a  wonderful  teacher 
of  the  nation.  His  brief,  pithy,  humorous  narratives 
have  made  crooked  things  straight,  through  a  thousand 
tortuous  walks  of  State  policy.  This  quaint,  ever-ready 
humor  was  the  soft  cushion  upon  which  the  great  burdens 
of  his  public  cares  impinged,  covering  and  shielding  his 
nerves  from  laceration.  It  saved  him  half  the  wear  and 
tear  of  his  official  work,  It  kept  his  friends,  and  con 
ciliated  those  who  differed  from  him.  He  could  convince 
with  a  smile,  refute  with  a  jest,  turn  the  flank  of  heavy 
reasoning  with  this  agile  lightness  of  wit  and  conquer 
kind  feeling,  if  not  persuasion,  —  generally  both. 

His  goodness  was  his  greatness.  His  honest  heart 
helped  his  straight-forward  mind.  He  saw  truth  and 
duty  more  clearly  by  this  inward  illumination.  His 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  343 

reach  of  genuine  desire  carried  out  his  reach  of  intellect, 
and  became  genius.  He  was  more  sagacious  than  his 
advisers,  partly  because  he  was  more  single-hearted.  He 
sought  so  earnestly  the  best  means  to  the  noblest  end,  that 
he  was  sure  of  an  intellectual  triumph  in  their  discovery. 
He  kept  the  moral  sky  clear,  and  it  reflected  light  upon 
the  mental.  A  pure  patriot,  who  walked  with  honor, 
faith,  and  truth,  though  walking  amid  the  defilements  and 
corruptions  of  political  life,  and  so  kept  his  garments 
unstained.  But  this  is  no  time,  in  the  freshness  of  our 
affliction,  for  his  eulogy.  It  is  too  soon  to  write  that. 
We  must  wait  till  the  clouds  have  risen  from  all  the 
paths  he  trod, — till  the  smoke  of  conflict  and  the  haze 
of  prejudice  are  swept  away  by  the  sun-bright  air  of  our 
newly-risen  day.  By  and  by  the  future  will  lead  us  up 
to  calm  heights  that  will  give  us  perfect  vision  over  all 
these  fluctuating  levels.  We  are  too  near  Abraham 
Lincoln  yet,  fully  to  survey  and  respect  his  great  nature 
and  his  great  work.  Not  till  the  wave  on  whose  crest 
he  rode  has  receded  with  him  a  little,  shall  we  be  able  to 
discover  on  the  back-ground  of  these  eventful  times  the 
true  proportions  of  his  greatness.  Every  coming  day 
will  add  to  his  fame  ;  and  coming  generations  will  testify 
that  no  purer,  no  nobler,  no  more  fruitful  life  has  been 
given  to  our  nation  and  American  history. 

"  We  trusted  it  had  been  he,"  whom  God  had  appointed 
to  lead  us  through  both  the  Red  Sea  and  the  desert 
beyond,  to  the  Canaan  of  our  future.  But  the  dastard 
hand  of  treason  struck,  —  struck  as  cowards  always 
strike,  from  behind,  —  struck,  with  the  confession  of 
weakness  and  desperate  inferiority  which  the  assassin 


344  SERMONS   ON   THE 

and  his  cause  always  make  in  the  very  act  that  gluts 
their  hate,  and  the  good,  the  great,  the  gentle,  the  kind, 
the  large-hearted,  the  beloved  President  is  no  more ! 
Whatever  else  may  be  dark  about  this  mystery  of  crime, 
we  cannot  mistake  the  spirit  that  steeped  itself  in  that 
sacred  blood.  It  is  the  same  spirit  that  has  been  deaf 
for  generations  to  the  groans  and  sighs  of  the  bondman  ; 
the  same  that  struck  with  parricidal  hand  at  the  breast 
of  the  country's  life  ;  the  same  that  opened  the  murder 
ous  thunders  of  war  in  Charleston  harbor,  and  has  kept 
them  resonant  over  the  land  through  four  wasteful,  tragic 
years ;  the  same  that  sent  hired  incendiaries  to  fire  the 
mansions  in  our  Northern  cities,  where  women  and  babes 
as  well  as  men  slept  in  unsuspecting  security ;  the  same  that 
laid  in  wait  for  the  President  elect,  with  murderous  intent, 
when  he  first  left  his  Western  home  for  the  Capitol ;  the 
same  that  advertised  for  bids  upon  his  head,  through  the 
consenting  press  of  the  South  ;  the  same  that  administered 
keepers'  discipline  in  Libby  Prison  and  Castle  Thunder,  for 
a  step  or  gesture  amiss,  with  bullet  and  bayonet ;  that 
made  grim  Famine  jailer  at  Belle  Isle  and  Andersonville, 
over  tens  of  thousands,  to  whom  death  only  brought 
release.  This  black,  consummate  crime  is  only  the  ripe 
fruit  of  that  system  of  barbarism  which  has  struck  its 
roots  so  deep,  and  had  such  stalwart  growth  in  this  conti 
nent.  That  barbarism  has  cheapened  human  life  in  hearts 
where  it  has  had  its  hour  ;  made  shedding  of  blood  like 
the  pouring  out  of  water  ;  the  cries  of  famishing  men  as 
whisperings  of  the  idle  wind ;  the  striking  down  of 
senatorial  dignity  in  its  own  place  of  privilege  and 
unsuspecting  safety,  a  deed  of  chivalrous  gallantry  ;  and 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  345 

now  the  cold-blooded  murder  of  one  who  has  led  in  the 
great  marches  of  liberty  to  a  whole  race,  and  is  hailed 
as  deliverer  and  saviour  by  four  millions  of  souls  whose 
fetters  have  fallen  at  his  word,  and  has  disappointed  thus 
the  scheme  to  build  a  kingdom  of  darkness  and  of  iron 
upon  the  necks  of  those  millions,  an  act  of  fruitless  though 
sweet  revenge.  It  has  delivered  many  a  blow  before, 
that  has  wrung  and  pierced  the  individual  heart ;  but  it 
has  found  here  at  last  its  opportunity,  Nero-like,  to 
gather  in  one  the  hearts  and  hopes  of  all  loyal  people, 
and  pierce  them  through  with  a  single  thrust.  Will  any 
one  say  that  I  go  too  far  in  attributing  this  stroke  of  a 
single  hand  to  the  whole  system  which  it  so  fitly  repre 
sents  ?  The  evidence  found  in  the  papers  of  the 
assassin,  the  time  at  first  arranged  for  the  execution  of 
the  plot,  the  hesitation  of  an  accomplice  at  that  time, 
until  WORD  SHOULD  COME  FROM  RICHMOND,  and  the 
mysterious  threats  and  prophecies  of  Richmond  papers  of 
that  date,  of  some  great  shock  to  the  Union,  and  the  world 
even,  then  just  impending,  which  would  be  the  deliver 
ance  of  the  confederacy,  all  go  to  show  that  the  secret  of 
this  conspiracy,  and  its  dark  purpose,  were  in  the  hearts  of 
the  rebel  chiefs  in  the  rebel  capital. 

But  what  has  it  gained  for  itself  by  such  triumphant 
guilt  ?  Any  reversal  of  its  own  infamy ;  a  more  clement 
judgment  in  history  ;  the  blossoming  of  fresh  hope  for 
its  own  dark  designs  ;  a  change  of  sentiment  and  will 
with  the  loyal  people  ;  the  blotting  out  of  the  great 
victories  of  the  fortnight  past ;  aught  but  a  crimson  hand 
whose  stain  strikes  all  through  the  soul,  and  the  curso 
of  earth  and  heaven  r  It  has  bought  its  revenge  dear. 


346  SERMONS   ON   THE 

And  what,  we  may  ask,  is  the  extent  of  this  revenge  ? 
or,  rather,  in  what  aspects  may  we  view  it,  that  shall  help 
us  bear  our  loss,  and  show  us  the  divine  hand  mingling 
in  it? 

That  deadly  aim  took  the  life  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 
But  it  could  not  touch  his  past.  That  is  forever  safe. 
It  could  not  blot  out  one  of  those  pregnant  years  through 
which  his  hand  was  on  the  helm  of  the  ship  of  state,  as 
she  drove  reeling  over  the  great  waves  of  the  storm.  It 
could  not  make  good  the  threat,  that  he  should  never  live 
to  take  his  seat  in  the  Presidential  chair.  It  could  not 
bereave  the  country  of  one  counsel  of  wisdom,  one  firm 
resolve  upon  which  she  has  leaned  so  steadily  in  her 
darkest  hours.  It  could  not  put  out  the  light  of  that  shin 
ing  example  of  truthfulness  and  dutifulness  which  has 
been  to  us  all.  in  this  night  of  gloom,  a  star  of  cheer  and 
of  guidance.  lr.  could  not  undo  the  policy  which  has 
gathered  and  marshalled  invincible  armies,  and  conquered 
peace  by  the  sword,  without  one  compromise  of  right 
ful,  unfettered  authority.  It  could  not  silence  that  voice 
that  spoke  out  on  the  most  illustrious  New  Year's  morn 
ing  of  all  our  history,  and  said  to  Four  Millions  of 
slaves,  "  BE  FKEE  !  "  —  and  the  winds  of  heaven  bore  it 
out,  "  Be  Free  !  " — and  the  sea  repeated  it,  on  all  our 
shores,  "  Be  Free  !" —  and  the  eagle  of  liberty,  looking 
down  on  his  own  broad  continent,  screamed  it,  "  Be 
Free!" — and  the  bending  heavens  with  saluting  angels 
sent  it  back  to  all  our  dusky  homes,  "  Be  Free  !" — and 
the  echo  rose  in  unnumbered  voices  of  lonely  lips,  toned 
with  wondrous  gratitude,  "Free,  Free,  Free!"  That 
word  has  been  spoken.  In  that  word  the  murdered 


DEATH    OP    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  347 

President  "  though  dead  still  speaketh."  That  voice  can 
never  be  silenced,  though  those  pale  lips  shall  never  part 
again.  The  work  that  has  been  done,  and  so  well  done, 
by  this  faithful  worker,  cannot  be  undone.  No  power 
beneath  the  sun  can  roll  back  this  nation  to  where 
she  stood  four  years  ago.  Those  grand  acts  of  the 
drama  that  have  moved  across  the  stage  will  never 
retrace  their  steps.  This  final  act  of  victory  and 
certainty  cannot  be  exchanged  for  that  first  act  of 
surprise,  confusion  and  fear.  Our  risen  morning 
cannot  sink  down  behind  the  orient,  and  hide  again 
in  the  darkness  of  the  past.  The  night  of  doubt 
and  defeat,  the  night  of  slavery,  the  night  of  defiant 
rebellion,  those  deep  shadows  of  the  past,  have  fled  ;  and 
the  new  day  no  man  can  sweep  from  the  brightening  fir 
mament.  All  this  has  been  gained,  for  us  and  humanity, 
under  that  leadership  whose  stricken  hand  has  dropped 
the  sceptre  now.  The  sceptre  has  fallen,  but  this  work 
remains.  The  past  is  secure.  No  murderer's  hand  has 
power  to  blot  it. 

In  our  hearts,  too,  our  slain  leader  still  lives.  He  lives 
more  vitally  than  ever.  Many  hearts  that  were  cool  to 
him  will  have  opened  now,  and  taken  him  in.  All 
prejudice  will  forgive  him  and  accept  him.  He  is  no 
more  an  object  of  criticism ;  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of 
hate.  Hate  itself  will  die  out,  and  in  its  place  will 
come  a  concession  of  his  many  virtues  and  peerless  ex 
cellences.  He  is  dead.  All  pens  that  write  of  him 
will  write  forbearingly,  if  not  tenderly  and  admiringly. 
And  those  of  us  who  loved  and  honored  him  before  will 
take  his  name  and  image  into  some  more  interior  cham- 


348  SERMONS   ON  THE 

her  of  our  hearts,  within  some  more  sacred  shrine,  and 
guard  them  there.  It  was  not  Abraham  Lincoln,  it  was 
our  cause,  the  cause  of  liberty,  the  cause  of  humanity, 
the  cause  of  government,  the  cause  of  the  Union,  that 
was  doomed  to  the  death  by  that  felon  hand.  The  vic 
tim  stood  on  that  perilous  height,  as  the  representative 
of  this  whole  great  scheme  of  human  progress.  He  is 
its  martyr.  He  died  for  that.  He  was  slain  because  of 
his  faithfulness  to  that  scheme.  Our  hands  led  him  up, 
once  and  again,  to  that  eminence,  and  set  him  there  as  a 
target  for  the  deadly  malice  of  the  conspirators.  He 
fell  because  we  laid  upon  him  such  trust,  and  because  he 
discharged  it  all  too  well.  We  can  but  love  him  the 
more  for  this.  Our  noble,  murdered  witness,  with  his 
good  confession,  his  home  and  his  throne,  are  henceforth 
in  our  heart  of  hearts.  The  assassin's  steel,  the  deadly 
aim,  cannot  reach  him  here.  We  will  teach  our  posterity 
to  honor  him.  Our  children,  and  our  children's  children 
shall  hear  us  speak  his  name  as  our  fathers  spoke  to  us 
the  name  of  Washington,  and  shall  grow  up  revering 
and  guarding  the  hallowed  memory  of  this  second  Father 
of  his  country  ;  whom  History  will  write,  also,  the  Father 
of  a  race. 

His  future,  too,  is  safe.  There  is  no  question  now,  in 
any  mind,  whether  any  eclipse  can  come  upon  his  fame. 
Would  he  have  guided  the  vessel  as  wisely,  through  the 
intricate  channels  of  reconstruction,  as  over  the  tempes 
tuous  sea  of  civil  strife  ?  Could  he  have  gained  such 
wide  assent  and  cheerful  support  to  his  measures,  in  the 
new  exigencies  of  ruling,  as  in  those  through  which  he 
has  safely  brought  us  ?  Might  not  some,  who  have  been 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT    LINCOLN.  349 

his  friends,  have  turned  against  him  possibly,  as  the  new 
questions  of  the  hour,  and  of  coming  hours,  came  into 
sharp  debate  ?  Already  there  were  fears  that  he  would 
not  prove  stern  enough  for  the  stern  work  of  retributive 
justice,  and  that  his  great,  kind  heart,  rather  than  his 
bond  to  law,  and  to  the  destinies  of  the  future,  would 
have  guided  him  in  his  treatment  of  the  chiefs  of  the 
rebellion.  But  all  fears,  all  questions,  all  doubts  looking 
toward  any  qualification  of  his  well-earned  renown,  are 
vanished  now.  He  can  show  no  weakness  in  the  future, 
to  reflect  upon  his  strength  in  the  past,  commit  no  folly 
to  reproach  his  old  sagacity,  make  no  blunder  that  shall 
leave  him  shorn  of  influence,  and  mingle  large  qualifica 
tion  with  the  praise  of  history.  He  is  safe  from  all  these 
possibilities  of  errors,  frailties,  and  failures.  History 
must  take  his  portrait  as  he  is,  standing  at  the  very 
highest  eminence  of  a  just  and  stainless  life.  Not  one 
laurel  which  he  has  won,  and  which  he  wears,  is  ever, 
by  any  reversal  of  coming  days,  to  be  stolen  from  his 
wealth  of  power. 

He  was  permitted,  too,  to  see  the  great  triumph 
toward  which  his  hopes  looked  and  his  counsels  helped. 
Thank  God  for  that.  He  knew  the  rebellion  doomed, 
the  war  ended,  and  the  nation  saved.  That  one  supreme 
moment  when  his  feet  trod  the  streets  of  the  conquered 
rebel  capital  paid  him  for  all.  He  did  not  die  like  the 
old  prophets  "  without  the  sight."  He  gazed  with 
mortal  eyes  upon  the  glorious  consummation,  for  which, 
with  such  grandeur  of  constancy  and  diligence,  through 
four  years  whose  weight  would  have  crushed  a  weaker 
man,  and  would  have  crushed  him  but  that  he  leaned  on 
30 


350  SERMONS   ON   THE 

Heaven,  he  had  been  toiling.  If  the  assassin  had 
struck  before  the  rebel  banner  fell  at  Richmond,  and  the 
sword  of  Lee  was  yielded  to  the  hand  of  Grant,  if  the 
sun  of  the  President  had  gone  down  before  the  sun  of 
our  rescued  nationality  had  fairly  risen,  that  would  have 
been  a  darker  and  more  trying  providence.  But  that 
sun  was  up.  Those  patriot  eyes  saw  its  morning  radi 
ance,  and  reflected  it  back.  He  might  almost  have 
said,  like  aged  Simeon,  perhaps  he  did  so  say  in  the 
silence  of  some  secret  and  thankful  prayer,  "  Lord,  now 
lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace,  for  mine  eyes 
have  seen  thy  salvation  !  " 

It  will  not  be  too  bold  to  say,  that  his  work  was  done 
when  it  paused ;  for  God,  who  gives  each  man  his  task, 
so  judged  and  so  appointed.  His  mission  was  accom 
plished.  That  for  which  God  raised  him  up  he  had 
performed.  All  that  was  committed  to  him  to  do  he 
finished,  and  finished  well.  That  which  comes  after  is 
assigned  to  other  heads.  God  is  not  limited  in  the 
number  or  in  the  variety  of  his  agents.  Nothing  is 
put  in  peril  now  by  this  falling  of  a  trusted  leader 
which  God  cannot  as  well  provide  for,  and  make  even 
more  victoriously  secure. 

Least  of  all  are  we  to  fear,  that  the  great  cause  of 
progress  in  this  land  must  needs  be  turned  back,  or  even 
halt.  That  cause  may  be  served  and  forwarded  by  men; 
but  it  is  not  dependent  upon  their  living  or  dying.  It  is 
not  invested  in  any  vulnerable,  human  life.  It  is  not 
something  material  which  bludgeon  or  steel  may  strike 
to  the  earth.  Its  citadel  is  not  within  frail  human  flesh, 
or  within  the  truest  and  noblest  human  heart.  It  is  a 


DEATH    OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  351 

kingdom  of  truth,  —  a  life  of  ideas,  invisible,  invul 
nerable,  —  on  all  the  air,  —  in  the  faith  and  testimony 
of  millions  of  confessors,  —  in  God's  imperishable  word, 
—  linked  with  his  invincible  providence,  —  in  living 
seed  of  thoughts  and  principles  which  righteous  blood 
shed  by  the  hand  of  violence  only  quickens  to  a  more 
instant  germination,  and  ripens  to  an  earlier  and  broader 
harvest.  That  cause  is  God's  cause.  It  is  hid  in  his 
heart.  It  is  carried  on  his  eternal  purpose.  It  is  too 
high  and  safe  for  human  desperation  to  strike. 

Let  none  of  us  in  his  great  grief  despair  or  despond 
over  his  country.  Recall  to-day  that  word  which  has 
become  in  these  stern  times  our  national  motto,  "  In 
God  we  trust !  "  He  did  not  lead  Israel  through  the 
Red  Sea  to  forsake  them  in  the  wilderness.  He  will 
not  forsake  us  on  the  shore  from  which  we  have  looked 
down  on  our  foes  overwhelmed  and  broken.  He  has  led 
us  hitherto.  He  can  lead  us  on.  His  counsels  have  not 
changed.  His  power  is  not  baffled.  He  can  appoint  us 
a  leader.  Moses  was  not  permitted  to  go  over  Jordan ; 
but  there  arose  a  new  captain  of  the  Lord's  host,  and 
the  sword  of  Joshua  instead  of  the  rod  of  Moses  waved 
in  the  van  of  advance.  David  was  not  permitted  to 
build  a  temple  for  the  Lord  his  God,  because  he  had 
been  a  man  of  war,  and  had  shed  much  blood  ;  but  he 
prepared  the  way,  accumulated  the  means,  conquered 
the  peace,  and  Solomon  reared  the  magnificent,  sacred 
pile.  Through  our  tears  let  us  look  up  and  confide  in 
that  Supreme  Leader. 

He  has  mingled  mercy  even  with  this  great  tragedy. 
Part  of  the  bloody  conspiracy  was  foiled.  The  Secretary 


352  SERMONS   ON   THE 

of  State,  and  those  smitten  in  his  defence,  we  may  hope 
will  survive.  The  arm  that  conquered  in  the  field, 
doomed  in  the  foul  plot  with  those  who  were  stricken, — 
the  arm  of  our  hero,  Grant,  is  nerved  still  with  life  and 
strength.  God  keep  it  so  nerved.  God  shield  the  head 
of  Grant.  How  wide  the  murderous  scheme,  and  how 
many  names  were  written  on  the  assassins'  roll,  none  of 
us  can  tell,  but  every  great  and  precious  life  we  can 
commend  to  his  vigilant  keeping  who  has  numbered 
the  hairs  of  our  head,  and  without  whom  not  a  sparrow 
falls  to  the  ground. 

What  if  the  new  unexpected  responsibility  settling 
upon  the  legal  successor  of  the  slain  President  should 
fill  him  with  another  heart,  call  him  up  to  the  height  of  a 
great  consecration,  gird  him  with  noble  and  faithful 
purposes,  so  that  the  memory  of  one  hour  of  shame 
shall  be  remembered  no  more  against  him,  in  the  splendor 
of  a  long  and  just  renown?  That  issue  is  more  than 
possible.  This,  too,  may  be  given  as  the  answer  of 
Christian  intercession. 

And  oh,  we  have  that  stricken  household  to  bathe  with 
a  nation's  sympathy;  to  beseech  God's  tenderest  con 
solations  for  them;  to  lift  them,  and  lay  them  for 
strength  and  comfort  on  the  heart  of  Jesus. 

Of  what  infinite  worth  to  them  now,  and  to  us  also, 
those  words  of  tender  confession  which  came  a  few 
months  ago  from  the  President's  lips:  "Yes,  now  I  can 
say  that  I  do  from  my  heart  love  the  Lord  Jeans  Christ." 

We  feel,  many  of  us,  that  we  could  have  wished,  for 
him  whom  we  mourn,  a  different  scene  for  the  last  hour 
of  his  health  and  consciousness  on  earth,  that  he  could 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  353 

have  met  the  fatal  missive  on  some  stage  of  official  duty, 
or  in  the  retirement  of  home,  or  in  the  circle  of  religious 
worship,  rather  than  within  those  festal  walls.  Yes,  it 
would  have  been  better. 

But  they  were  scarcely  festal  walls  to  him.  They 
were  a  sort  of  refuge  often,  for  one  who  had  no  retire 
ment  of  home,  from  the  incessant  calls  and  wearying 
importunities  of  aspirants  for  place  and  office. 

And  it  has  seemed  to  be  rather  one  of  the  penalties 
than  pleasures  of  political  rank  and  illustrious  position, 
that  they  must  yield  themselves  to  the  popular  welcomes 
and  fellowship  in  such  festive  gatherings.  And  the  plea 
that  prevailed  with  the  President  to  visit  the  theatre  on 
this  particular  night  was  that  of  his  own  kind  heart, 
unwilling,  in  the  necessary  absence  of  their  idolized 
general,  that  the  waiting  enthusiasm  of  the  people  should 
be  altogether  denied  an  object  for  its  expression;  his 
last  thought  not  for  himself,  but  for  the  gratification  of 
'those  whom  he  loved  and  served. 

And  so  he  has  passed  from  the  midst  of  us.  Our  joy- 
bells  have  changed  their  merry  peals  for  solemn  tolling. 
Our  festive  banners  droop  at  half-mast.  Our  purposed 
jubilant  processions  must  become  funeral  marches  to 
this  new  grave.  "  The  joy  of  our  hearts  is  ceased. 
Our  dance  is  turned  into  mourning.  The  crown  is 
fallen  from  our  head." 

We  touch,  in  this  event,  one  of  the  great  pivotal 
points  in  our  history  and  destiny,  on  which  turn  issues 
more  momentous  than  we  can  now  discern.  But  our 
future  is  with  God,  and  not  at  the  mercy  of  human 
scheming  and  human  crime. 


354  SERMONS   ON   THE 

We  shall  not  have  much  time  for  tears  even  over  so 
great  a  sorrow.  Our  work  is  stern  and  pressing.  One 
thing  is  beyond  contradiction.  Yielding  rebellion  has 
lost  its  most  lenient  judge,  —  returning  rebels  their  best 
friend.  His  successor  has  always  entertained  towards 
these  parricides  a  sharper  and  more  incisive  purpose. 
They  will  meet  in  him  a  face  set  like  a  flint,  a  hand  of 
iron.  They  have  not  gained  much  by  the  exchange. 

We  shall  none  of  us  be  any  the  more  inclined  to  spare 
the  last  remaining  weakness  of  the  old  system,  from  this 
new  exhibition  of  its  fell  spirit,  or  to  apologize  for  that 
temper  in  the  midst  of  us  that  can  make  this  day  of 
broken-hearted  mourning  a  day  of  glad  tidings  to  itself. 
It  is  not  wise  just  now  for  such  minds  to  speak  out  their 
brutal  gladness.  Our  hearts  are  too  sore  to  bear  it. 
They  had  better  hide  it,  if  they  feel  it,  so  deep  that 
neither  by  look  nor  lip  shall  it  get  expression.  We 
shall  not  be  very  patient  with  it.  The  law  officers  have 
found  out  that  there  is  such  a  crime  as  being  accessories 
to  murder  after  the  fact,  and  the  spirit  of  Andrew  John 
son  is  the  downright  kindred  spirit  of  the  Andrew  Jack 
son  of  other  days,  and  treason,  North  and  South,  will  have 
a  short  shrift  and  a  sharp  doom.  Perhaps  we  needed, 
all  of  us,  to  see  more  clearly  the  wickedness  against 
which  we  have  had  to  contend,  and  to  be  girded  anew 
for  its  utter  extermination.  Let  us  crush  it  quickly,  and 
forever. 

And  so,  bereft  of  this  one  helper  in  whom  we  have 
felt  strong,  let  us  turn  to  God  with  a  new  spirit  of 
dependence  on  his  Almighty  arm.  and  make  our  tears  of 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  355 

mourning  the  waters  of  a  new  baptismal  consecration  to 
the  service  of  our  country  and  humanity,  the  supremacy 
of  law,  and  the  safety,  honor,  and  perpetuity  of  this 
Union,  for  which  we  have  paid  so  great  a  price. 


REV.   J.   D.   FULTON. 


DEUTERONOMY    XXXIV:    7. 

"Hl8    EYE    WAS    NOT   DIM,     NOR   HIS   NATURAL   FORCE   ABATED.' 


AN  inscrutable  providence  crowds  this  and  other 
sanctuaries  to-day.  A  nation,  redeemed  by  the  blood 
and  toil  of  her  bravest  and  best,  mourns  the  loss  of  a 
Chief  Magistrate,  who  was  the  embodiment  of  a  people's 
hope,  and  the  object  round  which  the  affections  gathered 
of  every  lover  of  liberty  in  the  world.  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  sincerely  loved.  That  "peasant  proprietor,"  and 
"village  lawyer,"  whom,  by  some  divine  inspiration  or 
providence,  the  republican  party  of  1860  selected  to  be 
their  standard  bearer ;  whose  election  was  regarded  as 
a  calamity  by  many  of  his  supporters  ;  and  as  a  justifiable 
cause  for  the  most  monstrous  rebellion  upon  which  the 
sun  ever  shone,  grew  to  be  the  peer  of  Washington,  and 
climbed  to  the  highest  peak  of  earthly  distinction. 

It  was  a  great  shock  when  half  the  nation  attempted 
to  make  the  dream  of  secession  a  real  fact,  and  when 
the  guns  of  Sumter  sounded  the  call  to  arms ;  but  it  was 
trivial  when  contrasted  with  the  emotions  experienced 
as  the  tidings  reached  us  that  Abraham  Lincoln  had 

(359) 


360  SERMONS    ON    THE 

been  assassinated.  We  were  glad  when  the  armies  of 
the  rebellion  were  beaten ;  when  Richmond  fell ;  when 
Lee  capitulated ;  but  we  would  rather  have  had 
Washington  environed  with  the  enemy  and  have 
had  Lincoln  alive,  than  to  have  had  the  armies  defeated 
and  Lincoln  dead.  This  is  a  new  crime.  We  are  not  used 
to  the  bloody  hand  in  that  shape.  We  have  felt  that 
"  slavery  was  the  sum  of  all  villanies,"  and  that  men 
who  could  starve  our  brothers  amidst  abundance  ;  who 
could  suffer  them  to  freeze,  and  go  unsheltered  amid 
primeval  forests,  were  capable  of  any  act  of  cruelty  and 
injustice  ;  but  we  had  forgotten  that  sin  is  blinding, 
and  that  God  often  permits  the  wrath  of  man  to  work 
out  his  own  destruction ;  and  so  we  had  somehow 
fancied  that  rebels  had  hearts  and  brains  as  other 
men ;  and  that  they  would  discover,  what  we  have 
felt  all  the  way,  that  our  chief  magistrate  was  a  wall 
between  the  wrath  of  an  outraged  people  and  the  veriest 
criminals  of  history. 

They  did  not  perceive  the  truth,  and  so  they  conspired 
against  the  life  of  their  best,  if  not  of  their  only  powerful 
friend.  There  is  no  other  like  him.  Death  has  frozen 
and  hardened  that  loving  face,  and  embalms  it  in  the 
memories  of  mankind  as  a  legacy  of  the  past.  That 
heart  which  felt  its  need  of  divine  support  when  the 
nation's  sky  was  o'erclouded,  and  the  air  was  full  of 
rumors  and  revolt ;  which  nearly  broke  as  the  eye  gazed 
upon  the  lifeless  form  of  his  idolized  child;  and  which 
surrendered  itself  to  Jesus  as  the  boom  of  the  cannon  at 
Gettysburg  assured  us  that  the  nation  was  in  its  Geth- 
semane  struggle ;  which  wrought,  by  the  throes  of  an 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  361 

indescribable  anguish,  Emancipation  for  this  nation ; 
which  was  so  full  of  gentleness  and  love,  and  so  longed 
for  peace,  that  already  it  was  nearing  the  verge  of 
injustice,  in  its  search  for  its  ways  of  being  merciful,  is 
stilled  in  death. 

"  Yet  a  few  days  and  thee 

The  all-beholding  sun  shall  see  no  more. 

Thou  shalt  lie  down 

With  patriarchs  of  the  infant  world,  with  kings, 
The  powerful  of  the  earth,  the  wise,  the  good, 
All  in  one  mighty  sepulchre." 

Like  Moses,  he  has  died,  not  because  of  disease,  nor  of 
advanced  age  ;  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  was  his  natural 
force  abated.  He  died  because  his  work  was  done.  He 
had  passed  through  battle,  sorrow,  and  war ;  had  climbed 
the  heights  of  Pisgah,  and  had  gained  a  view  of  the 
Canaan  of  peace  lying  in  the  distance  ;  and  when  the 
Lord  had  showed  him  all  the  land,  and  had  assured  him 
of  the  promise  that  the  sons  of  freedom  should  possess 
it,  by  his  providence  he  declared,  "  Thou  shalt  not  go, 
over  thither." 

The  purpose  which  God  had  to  accomplish  through, 
his  instrumentality  had  beeen  fulfilled  ;  and,  as  there  ar$ 
dividing  lines  in  time,  drawn  by  God,  over  which  men 
never  pass,  it  becomes  us  to  bow  in  meek  submission, 
here  as  elsewhere,  and  to  hear  the  words,  "Be  still, 
and  know  that  I  am  God." 

Four  years  ago  we  remembered  him  as  he  abode  in 
hope.  Then  he  found  himself  the  object  of  Southern 
abuse  so  fierce  and  so  foul,  that,  in  any  man  less  passion 
less,  it  would  long  ago  have  stirred  up  an  implacable, 
31 


362  SERMONS   ON    THE 

hostility.  Mocked  at  for  his  official  awkwardness,  and 
denounced  for  his  steadfast  policy  ;  beset  by  fanatics  of 
principle  on  one  side,  who  disregarded  constitutional 
obligations,  and  by  fanatics  of  caste  on  the  other,  who 
were  not  only  deaf  to  the  claims  of  justice,  but  would 
hear  of  no  policy  large  enough  for  a  revolutionary  emer 
gency  ;  now  tried  by  a  long  series  of  disasters  which 
distressed  and  depressed  the  nation,  and  now  by  a 
series  of  successes  that  would  have  puffed  up  a  smaller 
mind,  he  has  preserved  his  balance,  and  walked  on  in 
the  path  of  duty  ;  never  in  advance  of  public  opinion, 
and  never  far  behind  it  ;  going  more  as  a  passenger 
on  the  ship  of  state,  believing  that  the  hand  of  God  was 
on  the  helm,  than  as  a  pilot  and  commander,  capable  of 
mapping  out  new  and  untried  paths  ;  never  trying  to 
control  events,  but  frankly  confessing  "  that  events  have 
controlled  me ; "  never  attempting  to  compliment  his 
own  sagacity,  but  gladly  admitting  that  to  God  be 
longs  all  the  praise  :  like  our  Capitol,  which  has 
been  pushed  on  towards  completion  amidst  troublous 
times,  though  it  lacks  here  a  cornice  and  there  a 
column,  yet  the  statue  of  Liberty  crowns  its  summit, 
and  looks  with  glorious  pride  toward  the  east  ;  so 
we  remember  that  though  his  character  was  incomplete, 
yet  like  the  Capitol,  its  main  portions  stood  out 
in  grand  and  type-like  outline,  crowned  with  the  laurel 
wreath  of  victory,  and  bearing  on  its  ample  frontlet, 
the  emblazoned  word  of  Liberty.  We  remember  that 
a  little  more  than  a  month  before  he  died,  he  stood 
forth  on  the  day  of  his  second  inauguration,  with  a  mes 
sage  so  statesman-like,  so  imbued  with  Christian  hope 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  363 

and  charity,  that  even  English  critics  declare  that  they 
can  detect  no  longer  the  rude  and  illiterate  mould  of  the 
village  lawyer's  thought,  but  find  it  replaced  by  a  grasp 
of  principle,  and  dignity  of  manner,  and  a  solemnity  of 
purpose,  which  would  have  been  unworthy  of  none  of 
the  remarkable  statesmen  of  the  past :  while  his  gentle 
ness  and  generosity  deserve  to  remain  forever  the  wonder 
and  admiration  of  mankind. 

Death  has  done  its  work !  That  soul  no  longer  lights 
up  that  tall,  frail  body.  The  window  is  darkened.  The 
vital  force  is  withdrawn.  The  heart  ceases  its  beating. 
The  tabernacle  is  emptied  of  its  inhabitant  and  goes  to 
decay.  Rejoice  that,  though  the  assassin's  bullet  has 
wrought  this,  it  could  not  accomplish  its  fell  purpose. 
For  though  the  earthly  house  of  this  tabernacle  was 
destroyed,  he  had  a  building  of  God,  a  house  not  made 
with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.  He  obeyed  his 
Master's  injunction  and  literally  knew  no  fear  of  men, 
who  could  destroy  the  body,  but  after  that  have  no  more 
that  they  can  do ;  but  having  feared  Him  who  can  cast 
both  soul  and  body  into  hell,  he  had  learned  to  put  away 
trouble ;  having  believed  in  God,  and  having  believed, 
also,  in  Christ.  It  is  ours  to  rejoice.  We  had  elected 
him  to  the  highest  of  earthly  positions,  and  made  him  an 
inhabitant  of  that  house  which  is  the  goal  of  millions. 
Christ  has  lifted  him  higher,  and  made  him  a  tenant 
of  a  mansion  prepared  for  him  in  the  heavens.  Hence 
the  loved  wife,  and  those  children,  one  of  whom  was 
just  standing  upon  the  verge  of  manhood,  and  the 
other  "  Tad."  whom  he  loved  so  well,  —  a  boy  of  hope 
and  promise,  —  can  exclaim,  no\v  that  the  soul  has 


3G4  SERMONS   ON   THE 

winged  its  way  upward,  "  Our  loved  one  is  with  God." 
With  the  -Christian  the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the 
body  is  but  the  throwing  aside  the  curtains  of  time,  and 
crossing  the  threshold  of  a  blissful  eternity.  His 
eternal  Sabbath  has  begun.  Sin,  which  fettered  his 
soul  here,  cannot  touch  him  there.  He  has  escaped, 
like  the  eagle  to  the  mountains ;  the  snare  of  the 
fowler  is  broken.  He  has  kept  Christ's  command 
ments,  and  abides  in  Christ's  love.  He  has  fought  the 
good  fight,  and  finished  the  course,  and  kept  the  faith ; 
and  henceforth  there  remains  for  him  a  crown  of  right 
eousness.  Let  us  rejoice  that  over  his  remains  the  light 
of  a  Christian's  hope  sheds  its  radiance.  In  spiritual 
death  there  is  something  frightful  to  contemplate.  We 
all  understand  the  meaning  of  the  word  "death"  as 
applied  to  the  body ;  none  of  us  can  comprehend  the 
meaning  of  the  term  "death"  as  applied  to  the  soul. 
We  have  seen  the  footprints  of  the  destroyer,  now  in 
the  wasted  form,  and  sunken  cheek  and  eye  of  those  we 
have  loved.  We  have  seen  the  child  of  tender  years 
lying,  like  a  withered  flower,  in  the  lap  of  maternal 
tenderness ;  we  have  gazed  upon  the  robust  frame, 
plump  cheek,  and  closed  eye,  over  which  the  sporting 
ringlet  played,  and  have  cried,  "  He  is  not  dead,  but 
sleepeth  ;  "  we  have  seen  death  in  horrid  shapes  on  the 
battle-field,  where  giant  men  have  fallen  in  the  strife  ; 

:  we  have  walked  beneath  the  shadows  of  the  pestilence, 
and  have  seen  manly  forms  pierced  by  the  arrows  which 
God's  messenger  has  drawn  from  his  quiver,  and  shot 

i  with  unerring  aim  from  his  death-dealing  bow ;  in  fancy 
we  have  seen  that  bent  head,  that  blood-crimsoned  chair, 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  365 

that  room  crowded  with  senators  and  statesmen,  and,  ever 
and  anon,  vocal  with  the  cries  of  a  wife,  who  exclaims : 
"Live!"  "  You  must  live ."  "Bring  Tad— lie  will 
speak  to  Tad — lie  loves  him  so!"  and  yet  there  are 
scenes  worse  than  this,  —  scenes  which  cannot  be 
compared  with  those  witnessed  daily  by  the  eye  of 
faith ;  seen  by  us  as  through  a  glass  darkly,  but  seen 
by  Spirit  eyes  in  all  their  hideous  proportions,  whenever 
they  gaze  upon  a  world  lying  under  bondage  of  death. 
The  sight  beheld  in  the  White  House  is  full  of  touching 
sadness,  but  the  sight  beheld  by  angel  eyes  within  these 
walls  is  still  more  gloomy.  The  dead  in  trespasses  and 
sins,  without  God,  and  without  hope  in  the  world,  — 
what  sight  can  be  more  pitiable  than  this  ?  "  For  the 
wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven  against  all  ungod 
liness  and  unrighteousness  of  men,  who  hold  the  truth 
in  unrighteousness." 

It  was  this  which  brought  Christ  to  earth.  He  came 
to  bridge  the  bridgeless  river,  and  to  lead  captivity  cap 
tive.  He  was  and  is  the  way,  the  truth,  and  the  life. 
His  hand  lifts  heaven's  window,  and  permits  the  eye  to 
behold  the  streets  paved  with  gold,  and  trodden  by  the 
feet  of  the  redeemed.  His  revelation  carries  the  torch 
through  the  vail,  and  permits  us  to  see  the  fountain 
from  whence  the  crystal  stream  flows  forth,  beside 
which  the  trees  of  life  forever  stand,  and  beneath 
which  flowers  bloom  that  delight  the  eye,  and 
fruits  abound  which  satisfy  the  soul.  You  feel 
that  you  have  heard  of  that  land  as  from  a  friend. 
In  that  land  there  are  no  gray  hairs,  no  wrinkled 
cheeks,  eyes  do  not  grow  dim  with  tears,  forms  are  not 


366  SERMONS   ON  THE 

bent  with  age.  The  step  is  always  light,  and  the  ruddy 
glow  of  health  is  ever  on  the  cheek.  In  that  land  there 
are  no  creeping  shadows,  no  wintry  blasts,  chilling  the 
blood,  and  driving  men  to  seek  shelter.  It  is  a  place  of 
rest,  and  a  place  of  safety.  Assassins  cannot  lurk  there. 
The  vile  cannot  dwell  there.  "  And  there  shall  in  no 
wise  enter  into  it  anything  that  defileth,  neither  whatso 
ever  worketh  abomination  or  maketh  a  lie  ;  but  they 
which  are  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life." 

Spiritual  life  and  spiritual  death  are  determined  here. 
As  the  tree  falls  so  it  lies.  This  hope  animates  our  souls 
to  day.  When  a  man's  feelings  are  benumbed ;  when 
his  inclinations  tend  downwards  ;  when  his  affections  are 
bound  around  the  decaying  things  of  time,  and  you 
find  it  impossible  to  lift  them  up,  and  cause  them  to 
twine  about  the  living  realities  of  eternity,  and  he  dies, 
you  feel  that  the  beyond  is  full  of  gloom.  But  when  he 
is  good,  reverent,  loving ;  when  mellowness  and  great- 
heartedness,  when  faith  in  God,  in  Christ,  and  in  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit  characterized  him;  when 
love  for  God  begets  a  love  for  man,  and  the  tie  that  binds 
him  to  the  infinite  links  him  to  the  finite  ;  when  kind 
ness  broods  over  the  actions ;  when  the  blessings  of  those 
that  were  ready  to  perish  rest  upon  him,  and  the  peace 
that  passeth  knowledge  flows  like  a  river  through  the 
area  of  his  life,  it  is  impossible  not  to  think  that  death 
is  but  the  introduction  to  a  more  blessed  companionship 
with  Jesus  : 

"  "Where  rivers  of  pleasure  flow  bright  o'er  the  plains, 
And  the  noontide  of  glory  eternally  reigns." 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  367 

You  feel  that,  in  the  description  of  this  good  and  rever 
ent  soul,  I  have  described  the  character  of  Abraham  Lin 
coln.  Never  have  we  seen  a  nature  more  broad,  a  love 
of  justice  more  strong,  an  incorruptibility  of  character 
more  manifest,  a  loyalty  to  principle  more  binding, 
than  distinguished  the  man  whom  we  so  profoundly 
mourn.  As  a  denomination,  we  are  indebted  to  him  ; 
for  it  was  his  innate  sense  of  justice,  and  love  of  right, 
that  gave  protection  to  some  who  are  dear  to  our  broth 
erhood  and  to  our  hearts.  Prison-doors  have  b?en 
unlocked  by  his  hand.  Soldiers  condemned  to  be  shot, 
rescued  by  him,  have  leaped  into  the  embrace  of  heroic 
death  with  his  name  upon  their  lips.  The  fatherless,  the 
stranger,  the  poor,  and  the  desolate,  rise  up  from  this 
stricken  land,  and  praise  God  for  the  benefaction  and 
the  benefactor. 

We  remember,  with  sorrow,  the  place  of  his  death. 
He  did  not  die  on  Mount  Nebo,  with  his  eye  full  of 
heaven.  He  was  shot  in  a  theatre.  We  are  sorry  for 
that.  It  was  a  poor  place  to  die  in.  It  would  not  be 
selected  by  any  of  you  as  the  spot  from  which  you  would 
desire  to  proceed  to  the  bar  of  God.  If  ever  any  man 
had  an  excuse  to  attend  a  theatre,  he  had.  The  cares 
of  office  were  heavy  upon  him.  His  brain  reeled.  His 
frame  grew  weak.  He  longed  for  a  change.  He 
desired  to  get  away  from  the  crowd,  from  the  cares 
and  responsibilities  of  office.  Washington's  closet  would 
have  been  preferable.  In  conversing  with  a  friend,  he 
said,  '*  Some  think  I  do  wrong  to  go  to  the  opera 
and  the  theatre  ;  but  it  rests  me.  I  love  to  be  alone, 
and  yet  to  be  with  the  people.  I  want  to  get  this 


368  SERMONS   ON   THE 

burden  off;  to  change  the  current  of  my  thoughts. 
A  hearty  laugh  relieves  me  ;  and  I  seem  better  able 
after  it  to  bear  my  cross."  This  was  his  excuse. 
Upon  it  we  will  not  pronounce  a  judgment.  This 
we  will  say :  we  are  all  sorry  our  best  loved  died 
there.  But  take  the  truth  with  its  shadow.  Moses  was 
forbidden  to  enter  the  promised  land  because,  at  the 
waters  of  Meribah,  he  disbelieved  God,  was  impatient, 
and  took  to  himself  the  glory  that  belonged  to  God. 
Does  not  the  rock  in  the  desert  stand  as  a  finger 
pointing  forward  to  our  danger  ?  does  not  Moses'  life 
assure  us  that  none  of  us  can  hope  for  heaven  through 
or  because  of  any  merits  of  our  own  ? 

We  have  not  tried  to  disguise  his  fault,  if  you  choose 
to  give  it  that  name.  Is  it  not  strange  that  there  is  no 
other  which  suggests  itself?  But  I  know  of  none. 
Admit  this,  and  answer  me.  If  you  were  to  send  a  man 
to  heaven,  to  represent  the  American  people  there, 
would  you  not  cast  your  vote  for  him  ?  Who  was  his 
match  in  virtues  ?  Who  has  used  opportunities  so  well, 
and  so  wisely  ? 

Some  tell  us  that  he  would  not  have  done  for  the 
hour.  God  knows  best ;  and  God  took  him  :  but  do 
you  believe  that  was  the  reason  ?  Has  he  not  always 
met  the  emergency,  and  did  not  his  last  act  show  us 
that  he  was  ready  to  meet  this  ?  If  he  erred  in 
leniency,  did  not  he  prove  himself  ready  to  be  just,  in 
condemning  men  who  evidenced  that  they  were  ready 
to  trifle  with  the  imperilled  interests  of  the  country  ? 

Is  it  not  more  just  to  say,  God  looked  in  pity  upon 
a  nation  that  had  floated  off  the  crime  of  slavery  upon 


DEATH   OF   PKESIDENT   LINCOLN.  369 

the  outflowing  currents  of  its  own  crimson  life  ;  and  that, 
in  one  blow,  God  intended  to  prepare  us  to  understand 
his  purposes,  and  make  us  ready  for  his  judgments  ? 
As  another  has  said,  "  The  cowardly  crack  of  that  pistol 
was  the  fitting  knell  of  the  infamous  romance  which  ever 
belongs  to  feudal  fierceness,  and  we  shall  probably  hear 
no  more  of  it.  On  Good  Friday,  long  ago,  the  God  ot 
Martyrs  was  sequestrated  from  all  apparent  hope ;  but 
on  the  tomb  of  the  Sacrificed  arose  the  banner  of  free 
dom  everywhere  and  forevermore.  Coming  ages  will 
hold  our  beloved  President  in  perpetually  augmenting 
esteem,  until  the  vestiges  of  his  beneficent  rule  are 
found,  not  along  the  strand  of  an  inland  sea,  but  upon 
the  highest  range  of  central  mountains,  equidistant 
between  world-washing  oceans,  with  the  old  flag  above 
and  the  youngest  race  beneath,  free  under  every  tint, 
and  fearing  only  God ! 

In  the  future  it  shall  be  discoverable,  as  it  is  not  at 
this  time,  that  his  work  was  finished.  Our  country 
resembled  a  magnificent  war-steamer,  lodged  midway  in 
the  Mississippi,  but  destined  to  sail  the  ocean.  When 
Abraham  Lincoln  stepped  upon  her  deck,  four  years  ago, 
he  found  her  prow  in  the  muddy  bank,  her  wheels  were 
clogged  with  flood-wood,  and  her  stern  was  swept  by 
the  resistless  current.  When  he  began  his  work  he  did 
not  do  any  remarkable  thing.  He  loosened  first  one 
wheel  and  then  the  other.  He  turned  on  the  steam,  got 
her  prow  into  the  current,  and  began  to  sail  down  the 
mighty  river.  It  was  a  perilous  passage.  Now  she 
was  swept  along  by  rapids,  now  she  moved  amid  frown 
ing  shores,  alive  with  guerillas,  and  bristling  with  bat- 


370  SERMONS    ON   THE 

terics.  Now  she  was  stopped  by  sand-bars,  and  now 
driven  through  perilous  channels,  and  the  nation's  hope 
died  out,  at  times,  as  night  settled  down  upon  the  ship 
and  its  brave  commander.  At  last  the  gray  dawn 
appeared,  and  the  morning  broke.  The  ship  was  moving, 
and  he  was  on  the  prow,  and  the  brave  old  crew  stood 
by  his  side.  At  last  Vicksburg  fell ;  the  ship  moved 
on.  You  remember  his  words  :  '•  The  signs  look  better. 
The  Father  of  Waters  again  goes  unvexed  to  the  sea. 
Thanks  to  the  great  Northwest  for  it.  Nor  yet  wholly 
to  them.  Three  hundred  miles  up  they  met  New  Eng 
land,  Empire,  Keystone,  and  Jersey,  hewing  their  way, 
right  and  left.  Nor  must  Uncle  Sam's  web  feet  be 
forgotten.  At  all  the  water's  margins  they  have  been 
present,  not  only  on  the  deep  sea,  the  broad  bay,  and  the 
rapid  river,  but  also  up  the  narrow,  muddy  bayou,  and 
wherever  the  ground  was  a  little  damp,  they  have  been, 
and  made  their  tracks.  Thanks  to  all  for  the  great 
republic,  for  the  principles  by  which  it  lives  and  keeps 
alive  for  man's  future ;  thanks  to  all.  Peace  does  not 
appear  so  far  distant  as  it  did.  I  hope  it  will  come 
soon,  and  come  to  stay ;  and  so  come  as  to  be  worth 
the  keeping  for  all  future  time."  Sustained  by  this 
hope,  how  he  worked,  how  he  waited !  Peace  was 
coming  ;  the  current  of  a  national  purpose  grew  stronger 
and  stronger ;  our  ship  passed  straight  into  the  Gulf, 
and  our  commander  got  a  little  taste  of  the  salt  sea, 
and  a  slight  touch  of  the  billow  when  he  confronted 
the  long  swell  of  the  Atlantic.  At  this  point  a  strange 
Providence  startles  us.  The  assassin's  bullet  causes  him 
to  step  aside,  just  as  the  nation  begins  to  think  of 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  371 

closing  up  the  rebellion;  and  so,  in  a  moment,  as  if 
summoned  by  God  to  new  and  fresh  work,  she  lays 
aside  her  glove  of  kid,  and  puts  on  her  glove  of  iron,  — 
gets  ready  to  answer  the  difficult  questions  and  solve  the 
knotted  problems,  and  settle  her  running  account  with 
the  traitors  at  home,  and  with  the  sympathizers  with 
traitors  abroad.  A  man  falls,  but  a  nation  lives.  A 
fact  which  would  have  thrown  France  into  a  revolution 
but  steadies  the  American  character,  and  solidifies  our 
government.  Yesterday,  we  considered  the  effects  of 
this  death  upon  the  settlement  of  national  questions 
and  the  jurisprudence  of  the  land.  To-day,  let  us  con 
fine  our  attention  to  the  delineation  of  his  character, 
and  follow  him  as  he  enters  upon  his  reward  on  high. 

Consider  now  here  God's  goodness  to  our  Chief 
Magistrate.  Come  with  me  to  the  eternal  city,  ye 
that  know  what  it  is  to  see  a  look  of  love  come  to  you 
from  the  hungry  whom  ye  have  fed,  and  the  naked 
whom  ye  have  clothed,  and  behold  Abraham  Lincoln 
walking  humbly  the  golden  streets  bearing  in  his  arms 
the  manacles  of  four  million  redeemed  bondmen,  and  of 
thirty  million  emancipated  freemen,  and  saying  in  his 
quaint  way,  Dear  Master,  these  are  the  results  of  the 
washing  of  thy  blood,  and  of  the  proclamation  of  thy 
glorious  gospel.  Behold  the  husbands  and  sons  whose 
spirits  have  preceded  him  from  battle-fields  and  prisons, 
from  the  slave-pen  and  from  the  dungeon,  and  hear 
them  in  their  ascriptions  of  praise  to  Him  to  whom 
belongeth  the  glory  forevermore. 

It  is  hard  to  part  with  him,  but  it  is  cruelty  to  wish 
him  back.  His  life  was  round,  full,  and  complete.  Can 


372  SERMONS   ON  THE 

you  not  see  Jesus  opening  the  record  of  him  whose 
footprints  of  love  are  found  in  every  path  where  it  was 
possible  for  him  to  be  useful  ?  Can  you  not  see  his  face 
light  up  as  Jesus  leads  him  into  the  mansions  hung  with 
the  pictures  of  his  faithful  acts  ?  There  is  one  where 
he  saved  the  widow's  son,  whose  father  had  been  his 
benefactor  in  his  youth.  There  is  another  descriptive 
of  his  thoughtful  tenderness  to  his  aged  stepmother,  who 
has  been  supported  by  his  munificent  care.  Another 
reveals  him  writing  sometimes  five  hundred  notes  per 
day  for  the  poor  and  the  destitute  in  Washington, 
asking  a  job  for  this  laborer,  a  pass  for  this  wife, 
granting  a  pardon  for  this  innocent,  and  bending  his 
tired  frame  over  documents  in  which  he  can  have  no 
personal  interest,  in  his  search  for  justice.  There  are  a 
few  acts  which  will  immortalize  him  in  history.  The 
Emancipation  Proclamation  is  the  crowning  act.  This 
secures  him  immortality.  This  lifts  him  to  a  niche  in 
the  temple  of  fame  an  arrow's  shot  higher  than  any 
ever  held  by  any  living  American.  But  in  heaven, 
methinks,  I  see  Christ's  eye  reading  records  our  eyes 
never  will  see,  and  hear  him  saying,  "  Inasmuch  as  ye 
did  it  unto  these,  ye  did  it  unto  me."  The  form  of  his 
beneficent  face  will  be  perpetuated  in  marble,  and  cities 
will  vie  with  each  other  in  piling  up  monuments,  to 
attest  their  appreciation  of  his  worth. 

A  Christian's  monument  is  not  built  of  any  material 
as  decaying  in  its  nature  as  marble.  It  cannot  be  con 
fined  to  any  given  locality.  Would  you  see  the  monu 
ment  of  Moses  you  need  not  make  a  pilgrimage  to 
Mount  Nebo,  or  search  with  your  eye  the  plains  of 


DEATH   OF   PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  373 

Moab  for  a  mosque  or  a  marble  shaft.  His  monument  is 
not  there ;  still,  he  has  one  visible  to  every  eye.  Look 
over  the  records  of  the  past  and  see  how  that  name  has 
ploughed  its  way  into  the  history  of  the  world.  The 
monument  of  Abraham  Lincoln  rests  in  the  heart-love  of 
the  American  people.  It  is  composed  of  acts  which  will 
glow  with  immortal  beauty;  with  acts,  rising  higher 
than  any  mere  monument  of  stone,  round  which  loving 
recollections  will  eternally  entwine  themselves,  and  in 
which  the  hopes  of  millions  are  enshrined.  Such  char 
acters  are  creations  of  God.  They  exist.  They  had  a 
beginning,  but  their  growth  was  almost  unnoticed.  All 
we  know  about  them  is,  they  were  ready  to  bear  any 
burden,  to  endure  any  hardship.  Press  them  with  cares 
you  but  hold  them  steady,  as  the  beams  strung  along  on 
the  top  of  columns  keep  them  from  falling.  There  is 
nothing  superfluous  about  them.  Equal  to  every  emer 
gency,  ready  for  every  task,  failhful  in  every  crisis,  they 
naturally  become  objects  of  almost  idolatrous  trust,  and 
of  malignant  hate.  Their  lives  are  full  of  toil  and  hard 
ship.  As  a  workman  often  uses  his  best  instrument  to 
overcome  the  greatest  difficulty,  and  to  surmount  the 
most  perplexing  obstacle,  as  the  strongest  men  are  sent 
to  perform  the  hardest  tasks,  so  God  gives  his  chosen 
ones  heavy  burdens,  and  sends  them  forward  on  perilous 
enterprises,  knowing  that  they  have  the  nerve  to  attempt, 
the  courage  to  endure,  and  the  faith  requisite  to  the 
accomplishment  of  the  gigantic  undertaking. 

Abraham  Lincoln's  traits  of  character  are  easily 
described.  His  power  of  trust  was  marvellous.  He 
believed  in  the  structural  power  of  our  free  institutions, 


374  SERMONS    ON    THE 

which,  without  any  statesman's  cooperation,  is  slowly 
building  a  free  nation  on  this  great  continent.  He  felt 
that  the  dogmas  of  the  great  past  were  inadequate  to  the 
glorious  present.  "The  occasion,"  said  he,  "is  piled 
high  with  difficulty,  and  we  must  rise  with  the  occasion. 
We  must  disenthrall  ourselves,  and  then  we  shall  save  our 
country."  He  believed  in  the  logic  of  events,  because 
in  them  he  thought  he  saw  the  purposes  of  God. 

He  believed  in  the  people,  and  longed  to  hear  from 
them.  He  asked  for  discussion  as  for  light,  and  awaited 
opportunity.  At  the  outset  he  pledged  himself  simply 
"  to  hold,  occupy,  and  possess  the  property  of  the  United 
States  ;  "  and  when  he  accomplished  the  task,  he  passed 
away.  He  was  a  conscientious  and  deeply  honest  man. 
He  was  afraid  of  gratifying  self  at  the  expense  of  duty, 
and  of  sacrificing  duty  for  the  sake  of  self.  This  ex 
plains  many  mysteries.  The  hand  that  wrote,  "  If  I 
could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would 
do  it,"  wrote,  also,  "  I  am,  naturally,  anti-slavery.  If 
slavery  is  not  wrong,  nothing  is  wrong.  I  cannot  re 
member  when  I  did  not  so  think  and  feel.  And  yet 
I  have  never  understood  that  the  Presidency  conferred 
upon  me  an  unrestricted  right  to  act,  officially,  upon 
this  judgment  and  feeling." 

His  integrity  was  thorough,  all  pervading  and  all  con 
trolling.  He  hesitated  to  put  down  his  foot.  There  is 
little  doubt  but  thousands  of  lives  were  sacrificed  because 
of  his  slowness ;  but  when  he  put  down  his  foot  it  was 
as  immovable  as  the  rock  itself,  and  his  waiting  may 
have  saved  the  nation.  We  all  remember  his  message 
in  which  he  disclosed  his  purpose  of  giving  freedom  to 


DEATH    OF    PRESIDENT  LINCOLN.  375 

the  slave.  It  assumed  the  form  of  a  duty.  "  In  giving 
freedom  to  the  slave  we  assure  freedom  to  the  free,  hon 
orable  alike  in  what  we  give  and  what  we  preserve. 
We  shall  nobly  save,  or  meanly  lose,  the  last,  best  hope 
of  earth.  Other  means  may  succeed  :  this  could  not 
fail.  The  way  is  plain,  peaceful,  generous,  just ;  a  way 
which,  if  followed,  the  world  will  forever  approve,  and 
God  must  forever  bless." 

The  people  confided  in  him,  not  so  much  because  they 
believed  in  his  genius,  or  in  the  quickness  of  his  percep 
tions,  as  because  of  a  sense  of  safety  and  security, 
which  was  begotten  by  the  methods  chosen  to  reach 
important  conclusions. 

He  believed  in  God  and  recognized  the  value  of 
prayer.  Hence,  when  he  left  Springfield  for  Washing 
ton,  fifty-three  months  before,  he  said  to  his  old  and 
tried  friends,  "  I  leave  you  with  this  request :  pray  for 
me."  They  did  pray  for  him.  Millions  beside  them 
prayed  for  him.  To  a  company  of  clergymen  he  said, 
"  Gentlemen,  my  hope  of  success  in  this  great  and  terri 
ble  struggle  rests  on  that  immutable  foundation,  the 
justice  and  goodness  of  God.  And  when  events  are 
very  threatening,  and  prospects  are  very  dark,  I  still 
hope  that  in  some  way  which  man  cannot  see,  all  will 
be  well  in  the  end,  because  our  cause  is  just,  and  God  is 
on  our  side  " 

He  was  one  of  the  people.  Well  do  some  of  us 
remember  standing  upon  the  steps  of  the  White  House, 
as  he  came  forth  from  the  Presidential  mansion.  He 
bowed  to  us  in  passing.  Our  hearts  were  touched  by 
his  careworn,  anxious  face.  Passing  into  the  grounds, 


376  SERMONS  ON   THE 

on  his  way  to  the  War  Office,  he  stopped  to  give  a 
greeting  to  a  couple  of  pet  goats  that  waited  for  his 
recognition.  While  thus  engaged,  one  of  the  party 
stepped  up  and  said,  "Mr.  Lincoln,  will  you  allow 
me  to  introduce  to  you  two  Massachusetts  women." 
He  drew  himself  up  to  his  full  height,  swept  his  hand 
over  his  face,  and  said,  "Yes,  bring  them  along."  We 
came,  and  were  introduced.  He  chatted  pleasantly  until 
we  grew  frightened,  and  begged  him  not  to  allow  us  to 
intrude  upon  his  time.  We  felt,  it  was  said,  that  it 
would  be  a  great  pleasure  to  shake  hands  with  our 
honored  Chief  Magistrate,  here,  beneath  God's  open 
heaven,  and  on  this  green  grass.  "  Ah ! "  said  he, 
waiting  a  moment,  "  such  a  privilege  is  worth  contend 
ing  for,"  and  then,  assuring  us  of  his  pleasure  to  greet 
the  people,  he  passed  on  to  his  laborious  tasks.  Well 
has  it  been  said,  "No  one  who  approached  him,  whether 
as  minister  or  messenger,  felt  impelled  either  to  stoop  or 
strut  in  his  presence."  Edward  Everett,  after  observing 
his  bearing,  at  Gettysburg,  among  the  Cabinet  and 
foreign  ministers,  the  Governor,  and  other  notables, 
pronounced  him  the  peer,  in  deportment,  of  any  one 
present. 

He  was  an  affectionate  man.  He  never  forgot  a  favor 
or  a  friend.  The  men  he  loved  before  he  was  President, 
he  loved  even  more  tenderly  after  he  learned  the  value 
of  their  disinterested  affection. 

He  was  a  temperance  man,  and  never  used  intoxicating 
liquors,  or  tobacco.  After  his  return  from  Richmond, 
we  are  told,  a  cask  of  old  whiskey,  taken  from  the  cel 
lar  of  one  of  the  southern  grandees,  was  brought  to  the 


DEATH   OP   PRESIDENT   LINCOLN.  377 

War  Office,  and  opened.  He  was  urged  to  take  it  in 
honor  of  the  occasion.  He  declined,  and  thus  refused 
to  lend  the  influence  of  his  name  and  position  to  the 
support  of  a  practice  which  has  wrought  such  immense 
mischief  in  the  Army  and  in  the  State. 

In  the  poem  which  he  was  so  fond  of  repeating,  and 
which  he  learned  when  a  young  man,  you  discover  a  key 
which  unlocks  many  of  the  mysteries  of  that  marvellous 
life.  There  is  a  charm  in  them  which  will  repay  perusal 
not  only  because  of  their  intrinsic  beauty,  but  because 
when  we  read  them  we  seem  to  get  near  his  great  and 
loving;  heart : — 


Oh  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ? 
Like  a  swift- fleeting  meteor,  a  fast-flying  cloud, 
A  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave, 
He  passeth  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave. 

The  leaves  of  the  oak  and  the  willow  shall  fade, 
Be  scattered  around,  and  together  be  laid, 
And  the  young  and  the  old,  and  the  low  and  the  high, 
Shall  moulder  to  dust,  and  together  shall  lie. 

The  infant  a  mother  attended  and  loved  ; 
The  mother  that  infant's  affection  who  proved  ; 
The  husband  that  mother  and  infant  who  blessed ; 
Each,  all,  are  away  to  their  dwellings  of  Rest. 

The  hand  of  the  king  that  the  sceptre  hath  borne  ; 
The  brow  of  the  priest  that  the  mitre  hath  worn  ; 
The  eye  of  the  sage,  and  the  heart  of  the  brave, 
ATP  K<* J™  and  lost  in  the  depths  of  the  grave. 


32* 


378  SERMONS   ON   THE 

The  peasant,  whose  lot  was  to  sow  and  to  reap  ; 
The  herdsman,  who  climbed  with  his  goats  up  the  steep ; 
The  beggar,  who  wandered  in  search  of  his  bread ; 
Have  faded  away,  like  the  grass  that  we  tread. 

So  the  multitude  goes,  like  the  flower  or  the  weed 
That  withers  away,  to  let  others  succeed  ; 
So  the  multitude  comes,  even  those  we  behold, 
To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 

For  we  are  the  same  our  fathers  have  been  ; 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen ; 
We  drink  the  same  stream,  and  view  the  same  sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 

The  thoughts  we  are  thinking  our  fathers  would  think  ; 
From  the  death  we  are  shrinking  our  fathers  would  shrink 
To  the  life  we  are  clinging  they  also  would  cling  : 
But  it  speeds  for  us  all,  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 

They  loved,  but  the  story  we  cannot  unfold  ; 
They  scorned,  but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is  cold  ; 
They  grieved,  but  no  wail  from  their  slumber  will  come ; 
They  joyed,  but  the  tongue  of  their  gladness  is  dumb. 

They  died,  ay !  they  died ;  we,  things  that  are  now, 
That  walk  on  the  turf  that  lies  over  their  brow, 
And  make  in  their  dwellings  a  transient  abode, 
Meet  the  things  that  they  met  on  their  pilgrimage  road. 

Yea !  hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and  pain, 
We  mingle  together  in  sunshine  and  rain  ; 
And  the  smile  and  the  tear,  the  song  and  the  dirge, 
Still  follow  each  other,  like  surge  upon  surge. 


DEATH   OF    PRESIDENT   LINCOLN".  379 

'Tis  the  wink  of  an  eye,  'tis  the  draught  of  a  breath, 
From  the  blossom  of  health  to  the  paleness  of  death  ; 
From  the  gilded  saloon  to  the  bier  and  the  shroud, — 
Oh  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ? 

A  man  that  revolved  such  thoughts  in  his  mind  was  not 
likely  to  be  elated  by  his  position  or  place.  There 
is  one  more  fact  which  deserves  to  be  mentioned, 
because  it  places  the  last  stone  upon  the  monumental 
pile  of  his  greatness.  He  took  time  daily  to  peruse  his 
Bible,  and  was  often  found  up  at  four  o'clock  in  the  early 
morning  holding  communion  with  the  Father  of  Lights 
in  his  word.  Such  is  the  character  which  America  at 
this  time  places  in  her  gilded  bark  of  hope,  and  sends 
down  the  current  of  time  to  the  distant  future.  Who 
ever  in  Europe  or  Asia  or  Africa  shall  behold  its  heaven - 
enkindling  look,  will  find  the  face  of  him  whose 

"Patient  toil 
Had  robed  our  cause  in  victory's  light, — 

"  A  martyr  to  the  cause  of  man, 
His  blood  is  freedom's  eucharist, 
And  in  the  World's  great  hero-list 
His  name  shall  lead  the  van. 

"  Yea !  raised  on  faith's  white  wings,  unfurled 
In  heaven's  pure  light,  of  him  we  say  : 
He  fell  upon  the  self- same  day 
A  Greater  died  to  save  the  world." 


A    PROCLAMATION. 

Whereas,  it  appears  from  evidence  in  the  Bureau  of 
Military  Justice,  that  the  atrocious  murder  of  the  late 
President,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN,  and  the  attempted  assas 
sination  of  the  Hon.  William  H.  Seward,  Secretary  of 
State,  were  incited,  concerted,  and  procured  by  and 
between  Jefferson  Davis,  late  of  Richmond,  Va.,  and 
Jacob  Thompson,  Clement  C.  Clay,  Beverly  Tucker, 
George  N,  Sanders,  W.  C.  Cleary,  and  other  rebels  and 
traitors  against  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
harbored  in  Canada ; 

Now,  therefore,  to  the  end  that  justice  may  be  done, 
I,  Andrew  Johnson,  President  of  the  United  States,  do 
offer  and  promise  for  the  arrest  of  said  persons,  or  either 
of  them,  within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  so  that 
they  can  be  brought  to  trial,  the  following  rewards  : 

One  Hundred  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
Jefferson  Davis. 

Twenty-Five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
Clement  C.  Clay. 

Twenty-Five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
Jacob  Thompson,  late  of  Mississippi. 

Twenty-Five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
George  N.  Sanders. 

Twenty-Five  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of 
Beverly  Tucker,  and 

Ten  Thousand  Dollars  for  the  arrest  of  William  C. 
Cleary,  late  Clerk  of  Clement  C.  Clay. 

The  Provost  Marshal  General  of  the  United  States  is 
directed  to  cause  a  description  of  the  said  persons,  with 
the  notice  of  the  above  rewards,  to  be  published. 

In  testimony  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand 

and  caused  the  seal  of  the  United  States  to  be  affixed. 

Done  at  the  city  of  Washington,  on  this  2d  day  of  May, 

in  the   year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand 

eight  hundred  and  sixty-five,  and  of  the 

[L.  s.]         Independence   of  the  United  States  of 

America  the  eighty-ninth. 

ANDREW  JOHNSON. 
By  the  President. 

WM.  HUNTER,  Acting  Secretary  of  State. 


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I  lost  young  Children  On  elegant  tinted  paper.  By  META  LANDER, 
author  of  "  Light  on  the  Dark  River." 

"  Good  taste  and  lavish  expense  have  produced  a  volume  which  must 
find  numerous  purchasers.  .  .  .  The  author  has  collected  the  more  ex 
quisite  and  touching  poems  in  the  language,  designed  to  impart  strength 
to  hearts  fainting  under  the  passage  of  bitter  sorrow  and  desolation 
from  loss  of  children," —  Congregationalist. 

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Turkey  antique 4.50 


SONGS    IN    THE    NIGHT?     or,    HYMNS    FOR    THE   SICK  AND 
SUFFERING.    By  REV.  A.  C.  THOMPSON. 

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Turkey  antique .       .       .        .        .       4.50 


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OTHERS    OF    THE    BIBLE.     By  MRS.  S.  G.  ASHTON.      With 
an  Introduction  by  KEY.  A.  L.  STONE,  Park-street  Church,  Boston. 


"  To  all  mothers  this  is  an  invaluable  production.  It  is  written  with  a 
view  to  inculcate  maternal  responsibilities.  Here  are,  for  instruction,  re 
proof,  and  warning,  such  mothers  as  Eve,  Sarah,  Rachel,  and  Leah,  Han 
nah,  Bathsheba,  Jezebel,  &c.  It  is  a  simple,  truthful  treatise,  founded 
strictly  on  the  Bible."  —  Philadelphia  Journal. 

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OONG   OF  SOLOMON-    By  LEONARD  WITHINGTON,  D.D. 

"  Although  for  many  years,  partly  by  general  report,  and  partly  through 
occasional  articles  in  "  The  Bibliotheca  Sacra,"  we  have  known  the  high 
standing  of  Dr.  Leonard  Withfoigton  as  a  scholarly  divine,  we  must  con 
fess  our  surprise  at  the  impression  which  this  work  has  given  us  of  his 
literary  attainments  and  critical  ability.  We  were  hardly  aware  that  the 
quiet  banks  of  the  Merrimack  had  for  fifty  years  nurtured  so  genuine  a 
scholar."  —  New  -  York  Independent. 

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BROKEN    LIGHTS.     An  Inquiry  into  the  Present  Condition  and 
Future  Prospects  of  Religious  Fuith.     By  FRANCES  POWER  COBBE 
(who  edited  the  English  edition  of  Theodore  Parker's  Works),  authoress 
of  "  Intuitive  Morals,"  &c. 

.The  Cliristian  Register  says,  — 

"  Those  whose  faith  is  purely  traditional,  and  who  are  afraid  of  a  free 
handling  of  religious  subjects,  would  do  well  not  to  heed  it;  but  all  who 
value  truth,  and  whose  faith  rests  on  rational  evidence,  will  gaze  with  in 
terest  and  profit  on  these  '  Broken  Lights.' " 

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rsCHATOLOGY ;  or,  THE  SCRIPTURE  DOCTRINE  OF  THE  COM- 

L.   ING  OK  THE  LORD,  THE  JUDGMENT,  AND  THE  RESURRECTION. 

By  SAMUEL,  LEE. 

"  This  book,  or  the  doctrines  it  contains,  is  claimed  as  the  special  belief 
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spiritual,  —  and  is,  therefore,  a  wonderful  work." 

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WELLS  OF  BACA  ;  or,  SOLACES  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  MOURNER; 
and  Other  Thoughts  on  Bereavement.     By  the  author  of  "  The 
Morning  and  Night  Watches." 

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THE   ROMAN   QUESTION.     EDMOND  ABOUT. 

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